Rumor
Formula 1
Alonso in severance standoff with Ferrari - report
It is perhaps the burning question in F1 at present ... What is Fernando Alonso going to do next?
GMM
Edited: Oct 29, 2014, 2:28 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Hopeful rookie Carlos Sainz jr, a fellow Spaniard, summed up the mood of the entire paddock when he told AS newspaper on Wednesday: "I have no idea."
In fact, some F1 protagonists believe they know what is going to happen.
Marchionne coming to Austin for a 'double' announcement
Italy's specialist La Gazzetta dello Sport declared on Wednesday that new Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne will travel to Austin this weekend for a double announcement - Alonso's exit and the arrival of Sebastian Vettel.
That may be the case, but the inner workings of Alonso's apparently inevitable departure from the Maranello team are probably more complicated.
Michael Schmidt, the highly respected correspondent for Auto Motor und Sport, thinks he knows the answer, having written it down in two recent articles.
Who will pull the plug?
The crux of the matter is that with German Vettel having apparently already signed for 2015, Ferrari also has valid contracts for next season with Kimi Raikkonen and Alonso.
It is the manner in which Alonso's contract is terminated that is apparently the cause of the current and mysterious delay.
If the 33-year-old is the one who pulls the plug, he can walk off to McLaren-Honda, another team, or a sabbatical.
But if Ferrari is the one that legally calls off the deal, the Italian team will have to compensate Alonso to the tune of tens of millions of euros - just as it had to do at the end of 2009 when Raikkonen was farewelled ahead of time.
"Rumours have it that the Spaniard has a choice: either drive (in 2015) or take the severance," said Schmidt.
"But Ferrari does not want this. Why pay someone who himself wanted to leave the team? He will not drive, because they already have two drivers in Vettel and Raikkonen.
"Mediation talks have brought no breakthrough until now. Both parties want to avoid going to court and instead find a noiseless compromise."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Prost doubts Renault can catch Mercedes in 2015
Next article A Texas showdown: Formula One vs. NASCAR
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
GMM
The season is still very long - Rosberg
Formula 1
Formula 1
The season is still very long - Rosberg
Jules Bianchi's father speaks of family's continued hopes
Formula 1
Formula 1
Jules Bianchi's father speaks of family's continued hopes
Sauber under no illusions about constructors' position
Formula 1
Formula 1
Chinese GP
Sauber under no illusions about constructors' position
More from
Kimi Raikkonen
David Coulthard explains why Robin Raikkonen's rise resembles Max Verstappen's
Formula 1
Formula 1
Spanish GP
David Coulthard explains why Robin Raikkonen's rise resembles Max Verstappen's
On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement
Formula 1
Formula 1
Italian GP
On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement
Red Bull signs Kimi Raikkonen’s son as junior driver
Formula 1
Formula 1
Italian GP
Red Bull signs Kimi Raikkonen’s son as junior driver
More from
Ferrari
Ferrari promotes F2 racer to F1 reserve driver role
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
4 h
Ferrari promotes F2 racer to F1 reserve driver role
The six drivers doing double duty in Portimao GTWCE and Barcelona WEC this weekend
WEC
WEC
Barcelona
The six drivers doing double duty in Portimao GTWCE and Barcelona WEC this weekend
Latest news
Why Mercedes switched George Russell to its old F1 car spec in Singapore
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
14 min
Why Mercedes switched George Russell to its old F1 car spec in Singapore
Max Verstappen found responsible for FP1 clash at Portimao GTWC finale
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 1 h
Max Verstappen found responsible for FP1 clash at Portimao GTWC finale
“Wow, okay” – How Max Verstappen’s team-mate Ben Barnicoat reacted to his early GTWC driving
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 2 h
“Wow, okay” – How Max Verstappen’s team-mate Ben Barnicoat reacted to his early GTWC driving
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe