Alonso On The Pull

Two races into the new season and with Massa struggling to keep his Ferrari on the road, the former champion is already batting his eyelids at Ferrari.

Imagine how the Renault guys must feel. These are the same guys who brought two titles to the Spaniard and took him back in after his McLaren lived was short-lived. To be fair, this has always been expected. Alonso returning to Renault is like getting back together with an old girlfriend. It’s not the same and isn’t as good as you remember it. But to start flirting with Ferrari so early is just going to create a frosty atmosphere between Alonso and those he works with.

Originally the talk was about him replacing Raikkonen if he was to retire at the end of next year. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but I only Raikkonen mentioning the end of 2009 as a retirement date once. Yet for over a year since he was quoted as such people still consider it fact. I haven’t heard it mentioned by the Finn since then. It could easily have been a ploy to take the pressure off after everyone proclaimed him as the long-time replacement to Schumacher. What easy way to take that pressure off than to lead people to believe you are only here for the short haul? When, and I reckon it is ‘when’, he signs a new deal with Ferrari it will show the Finn has a good grasp of how to deal with the media.

But can Alonso work with Raikkonen? That is the question that isn’t been asked in the media. Alonso will want his precious number one position in the team. He threw the toys out of the pram for not getting it at McLaren and Renault has been keen to stress that he is the number one at the team. Raikkonen is hardly going to accept a number two slot at Ferrari.
How long will it take Alonso to start moaning about it when Raikkonen beats him in equal cars? A move to Ferrari just leads him into another McLaren scenario.

Somehow, this all appeals to Alonso.