Latest F1 news in brief
- Alonso sidesteps latest Ferrari rumors
- Alonso never a serious option for RBR – Horner
- Alonso doubts Hamilton can stay in title fight
- Ferrari duo hope for no more 'bad days'
Alonso sidesteps latest Ferrari rumors
(GMM) Spanish F1 driver Fernando Alonso at Hockenheim sidestepped rumors he may accompany McLaren sponsor Santander to Ferrari in 2010.
"All I know is what I have read in the past days," the current Renault driver is quoted as saying by the news agency EFE.
"I don't know if it is true or not, I have not heard anything. Even if (Santander) do go (to Ferrari), it doesn't mean I have to go as well.
"I haven't spoken to anybody from Santander or Ferrari; that's all I have to say," he added.
Alonso, 26, also would not rule out staying with Renault in 2009.
"Let's see what will happen between now and the end of the year," he said. "Next year's championship begins in March, so I am not in a hurry to decide.
"In July, you can have discussions with people, but nothing very serious until September or October."
In another Spanish media report, meanwhile, Alonso gave a big hint about his preference for the future.
In a novel cooking activity for a sponsor, the interviewer craftily asked the former double world champion if he prefers French (Renault) or Italian (Ferrari) food.
"Spanish," Alonso smiled, according to the Diario AS newspaper. "But if you are referring to something else, then I prefer Italian," he added.
Alonso never a serious option for RBR – Horner
(GMM) Red Bull never seriously considered hiring Fernando Alonso for the 2009 season, team boss Christian Horner said at Hockenheim.
After confirming that current Toro Rosso racer Sebastian Vettel will graduate to the senior team next year, Horner was asked about speculation that Red Bull also held talks with former double world champion Alonso.
It is believed, however, that Red Bull's interest cooled because Alonso may only be looking for a one-year contract before switching to Ferrari in 2010.
"Fernando for us, on the terms that he was potentially looking for, would never have been an option," Horner confirmed.
The Briton hastily added that the team is happy with its 2009 lineup of Vettel, 21, alongside Mark Webber.
"To be honest (Alonso) was an option that we didn't even look particularly hard at, because in Sebastian we've got a driver very much for the future," Horner said.
Alonso doubts Hamilton can stay in title fight
(GMM) Fernando Alonso has predicted a two-way fight for the 2008 championship between Ferrari's race drivers.
Without actually mentioning the name of his 2007 McLaren teammate, former double world champion Alonso – who drives for Renault – seemed to discount the possibility that Lewis Hamilton will still be fighting for the crown by the end of the season.
In the drivers' classification at present, Hamilton is among a three-way points tie with Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.
"The title?" Alonso, 26, is quoted as saying at Hockenheim by Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"It is a question that will involve only Raikkonen and Massa in the second part of the championship," he added.
Ferrari duo hope for no more 'bad days'
(GMM) Ferrari's two race drivers said they are not dwelling on mistakes described as "stupid" by the Italian marque's president Luca di Montezemolo after the recent British grand prix.
"Montezemolo was disappointed? He was not the only one," world champion Kimi Raikkonen was at Hockenheim quoted as saying by La Gazzetta dello Sport.
A bad call on the Ferrari pitwall at Silverstone two Sundays ago marred the Finn's chase of winner Lewis Hamilton, while teammate Felipe Massa finished dead last following at least five spins.
"It's just part of racing," Raikkonen added. "We have made some mistakes but nothing is wrong and the championship is still open."
Brazilian Massa, meanwhile, filed away his disastrous British race two weeks ago as a "bad day".
"That is something you can't explain but that is part of sport, anybody can have a bad day just as you have a good day.
"That's what happened to me — I just hope it does not happen again," he added.