SILLY SEASON: ALONSO TO MCLAREN LOOKING LIKELY Is Fernando Alonso leaving Ferrari? Even with much of the Formula 1 world on the long-haul return to Europe, the silly season continued to churn on Monday after the Singapore Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso is still the main character in the soap opera, even though he is technically under contract to Ferrari for 2015 and beyond. But there is high speculation either the frustrated Spaniard can trigger a performance-related exit clause, or that McLaren‘s new works partner Honda is prepared to spend millions to simply break Alonso’s contract and sign him up for 2015. La Gazzetta dello Sport on Monday reported that Alonso has even now told Ferrari that he intends to leave. The report added Mattiacci saying, “We must have the courage to change and not rest on the laurels of the past. I have been asked to lead this and not everyone can like it,” he added. Marca, however, quoted Mattiacci as insisting in Singapore that “Nothing has changed in my relationship with Fernando this weekend”. But, clearly referring to the management upheavals at Maranello this year, he also said: “I do not know any company that makes such profound changes where everyone can be happy about it. Some like it and some do not. But sometimes you have to have the courage to change.” More signs of the clash between Mattiacci and Alonso could be detected in their assessment of Ferrari’s performance in Singapore. Mattiacci claimed the team has made clear progress since Monza. “We had the pace of Red Bull – it is clear that the car has improved,” said the Italian. But Alonso said: “My teammate was 45 seconds behind me.” This all ties in perfectly with his claims that he might have news about his future in a couple of weeks, and reports Honda’s ideal backdrop for an announcement would be its very own Suzuka circuit ahead of the forthcoming Japanese Grand Prix. McLaren, however, is denying its deliberations about whether or not to keep Jenson Button beyond 2014 are connected to reports of a Suzuka announcement. “Absolutely not,” said team boss Eric Boullier when asked if a driver decision by McLaren might be expected in Japan. There are no plans to announce anything yet.” Curiously, the latest speculation from the McLaren camp is that Button is in fact set to get at least one more year at Woking. Boullier is even hinting that a decision about McLaren’s 2015 pairing is now made, “More or less yes. More or less it is open and more or less it is decided. Please don’t twist my arm.” Giving even more hints now is Button himself, after weeks of obviously worrying that McLaren’s eventual decision could in fact end his Formula 1 career. Suddenly, the 34-year-old is sounding confident. “I’m not worried in any way about that,” he is quoted by the Guardian. “I’m pretty happy I’ll be here next year, and I feel I’m doing a good job right now.” Button is also now talking openly about reuniting with his old employer Honda, who will be McLaren’s works partner in 2015, “I know Honda will be giving everything to be competitive from the word go.” (GMM)
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 08:44:23 +0000
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