Rossi - Alonso/Vettel Would Be Dream Team for Ferrari

Seven-time MotoGP champion and 9-time FIM world champion Valentino Rossi admitted once again that he would like to join Ferrari in the Formula One championship, but only as an extra driver to compete on Ferrari's 3rd car in the series. Asked many times by the Ferrari officials to make a switch from his successful motorcycle racing career to F1, Rossi is year by year questioned about his plans for the future.

“I would like to explore the possibility of a third car for myself,” admitted Rossi in an interview with Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.

Additionally, however, the reigning MotoGP champion gave Ferrari a valuable piece of advice. Being that the Prancing Horse clearly has some catching up to do in this year's championship, Rossi seems to have found the solution to their problem: hire Sebastian Vettel.

“To have a strong team like Yamaha's (in MotoGP), Ferrari should hire Sebastian Vettel alongside Alonso,” added the 31-year old ace, who is currently lined up with double 250cc champion Jorge Lorenzo in his FIAT Yamaha MotoGP team.

The pair is currently leading the show in this year's MotoGP, with Lorenzo heading the riders' classification by 9 points to rival Rossi. All three races this season have been won by Yamaha riders – one by Rossi, two by Lorenzo – while the pair dominated last year's championship also. In 2009, Rossi and Lorenzo were 1-2 in the overall classification, with Yamaha winning both the teams' and the manufacturers' titles.

As for Ferrari's situation, it's highly unlikely that Vettel will be joining the Scuderia any time soon, as his deal with Red Bull extends until the end of 2012. According to some previous reports, the Austrian team is pursuing a further extension until 2015. On the other hand, Felipe Massa's runs out at the end of this year, and the most likely person to take over from the Polish driver next season is Renault's Robert Kubica.