It’s been reported by sources in Italy, namely Autosprint, that Fernando Alonso has a performance clause stipulated in his Ferrari contract that allows him to exit the team a few years before the contract expires.
This stems from this performance clause becoming active should the Maranello-based team finish lower than 3rd in the constructors championship, and they’re currently under that threshold having been overtaken by Williams at Hockenheim with Valtteri Bottas’ second place being enough to overhaul the 3 point advantage Ferrari had over Williams heading into Hockenheim.
Now would be a convenient time to reignite one of the most commonly-discussed driver debates present in Formula 1 again: Should Alonso look past Ferrari and move away from Maranello?
Yes
Many fans and pundits alike would concur that the Spaniard can’t give more than what he has given for Ferrari on the track, missing out on the drivers championship to Sebastian Vettel in both 2010 and 2012 by as little 4 and 3 points in the respective years and was also runner-up to the German last season.
Ferrari haven’t added to their illustrious trophy cabinet since winning the constructors championship back in 2008 and have failed to produce title-winning machinery ever since, most of the time having Alonso consistently drag it to places it shouldn’t be on raw performance, whilst witnessing rivals Red Bull, McLaren and most recently – and comprehensively – Mercedes capably do such.
Alonso is desperate for that elusive 3rd world title that’ll put him level with the likes of Ayrton Senna, Niki Lauda and Sir Jackie Stewart and hasn’t made it a secret that his patience is wearing thin, with uneasiness between him and Ferrari president Luca Di Montezemolo previously filtered through to the public despite their insistence that all is well in the Italian camp.
McLaren are reportedly seeking a top driver to bolster their driver lineup for next season having yet to confirm either Jenson Button or Kevin Magnussen for next season, and Alonso is one of the names constantly touted. The idea of a return could possibly be strengthened by one of Red Bull’s leading men in the aerodynamic department Peter Prodromou being recruited and will have a more significant role in the designing and development of the McLaren chassis in 2015, as well as McLaren chairman Ron Dennis stating that Alonso returning wouldn’t be an issue despite the partnership in 2007 infamously turning sour.
It would be a fitting time for Alonso to explore other options, with both McLaren and Ferrari doing some form of rebuilding management-wise and one could say that McLaren are more advanced in that respect with Stefano Domenicali resigning after Bahrain and being replaced by Marco Mattiacci, while Dennis and Eric Boullier as McLaren’s racing director stepped into the post left by the ousted Martin Whitmarsh before this season.
Taking all of this into account, the gamble of walking away from the scarlet machinery wouldn’t be unwise, especially if neither Alonso nor Ferrari add any silverware to their collection once Alonso inevitably retires from the sport.
No
Multiple times has Alonso reiterated his desire to remain at Ferrari for the remainder of his contract at least, and at times his desire to finish his F1 career at the team.
Even if he does decide to leave, where can he realistically go where championship-winning machinery is potentially at his disposal in the near future? One would look at Mercedes first, they’ve recently tied down Nico Rosberg to a new long-term contract believed to last till the end of 2016, whilst the team look to do the same with Lewis Hamilton having begun talks with him, Red Bull are to do likewise with Daniel Ricciardo having been well-convinced of his performances during the first half of the season, Vettel, who’s been previously linked with a move to Ferrari, is contracted till the end of 2015 and has a less certain position at the team but Red Bull remain adamant that he’ll be with the team for the foreseeable future at least. Williams are enjoying their best form in many seasons, but are less guaranteed compared to the likes of their high-budgeted rivals Mercedes and Red Bull to continue such form into 2015.
That leaves McLaren, as they’re the only team with the resources capable of moving to the front in the near future, and the gamble mentioned before involves Alonso depending on a Honda engine that’s a year behind the other engines in development and F1 is now in an era where engine is king and emphasis on cost-saving limiting track testing, meaning Honda will find it difficult to catch-up. Additionally McLaren could be coming off the back of a disappointing last two seasons, more so than Ferrari in the same period. There’s also the part where you question if Alonso personally sees himself back at Woking after the tumultuous 2007 season.
There’s the element of continuity to consider and Ferrari is more likely to provide that, especially with Alonso being more than integrated into the team and made it work around him, all that effort of making Ferrari his team would be going to waste. Plus moving away would subsequently pit him into a different environment where he would have to adjust to a new chassis-engine combination whilst his new team-mate would likely have a year’s experience under their belt and the double world champion could face the prospect of not being number 1 in the team, something he hasn’t taken the kindest approach to as most of us know, look no further than 2007 at McLaren ironically.
The Neutral Perspective
It shouldn’t be overlooked that Ferrari need to end up 4th or lower in the constructors standings for Alonso to be able to terminate his contract early, something that’s in the balance given the resurgence of Williams and his team-mate’s struggles.
Alonso is 32 and is in the prime years of his racing career, he is keen on sticking around the sport for “three, five, seven” years if his BBC interview at the Canadian Grand Prix is one of many interviews to go by, but who knows if come those three, five or seven years if Alonso will still be performing as well as he is now. His performances over the last five seasons have been exceptional to the point where he’s earned the widely-agreed remark of being “the most complete driver” in the sport and – I say – has the right to exercise the performance clause to his liking.
He’s at an age and a stage of his contract it seems where an important decision leaning towards boosting his chances of a 3rd world title will be made soon. The ever-changing nature of F1 means surprises are always in store for many associated with the sport, Alonso’s situation might not be an exception.
Then again nothing is certain in F1, and that can be applied to these reports, which could be just rumours to kick off the annual “silly season”, the drivers at the sharp end of the grid have traditionally confirmed switches to other teams around September, some later but rarely, take Hamilton’s move to Mercedes, Alonso and Raikkonen’s to Ferrari as three main examples. Big moves. If all of this is just fuel for silly season, then what a way to get it moving.
