A veteran formula one engineer has cast doubt on speculation that Ferrari could be a real option for Fernando Alonso in the future.
With rumours intensifying by the hour that the reigning world champion might quit McLaren, it is suggested that the Maranello based Prancing Horse might be his first choice because it is the only other current winner in F1.
But fellow Spaniard Joan Villadelprat, who worked with Alonso when he drove as a rookie for Minardi, said the Ferrari option probably disappeared for his countryman six years ago.
“He had reached a deal to go to Ferrari for five years,” Villadelprat, who also worked for Benetton, Ferrari, McLaren, Tyrrell, Benetton and Prost during his career, said of Alonso, referring to 2001.
“Their agreement was final and his agent had even reached a verbal agreement with a handshake.
“One week later they signed with (Renault’s Flavio) Briatore without (Jean) Todt’s consent, guaranteeing that he would never be a driver for Ferrari,” he told the Spanish newspaper Diario As.
Villadelprat also commented that he would have publicly shamed Alonso’s McLaren teammate, the rookie championship leader Lewis Hamilton, for famously disobeying a team order during qualifying in Hungary.
“If I was in charge at McLaren I would have made his sanction public,” he said, “because, like in any other business, if an employee disobeys his boss, you get punished.”
