Alonso scuppers Vettel dream team plan

The likelihood of superstars Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel ever becoming teammates at Ferrari has ebbed into oblivion.

The Formula One paddock, the centrepiece of rumour, gossip and intrigue, last season rippled with an undercurrent of speculation that sooner rather than later that dream team would be formed.

And the rumour mill was further oiled with Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo airing his admiration for Vettel and the Prancing Horse team boss Stefano Domenicali deepening the intrigue with: “Never say never.”

Both were clearly confident that an Alonso-Vettel tie-up, well-aired to the media earlier this year, could be in the offing, if not this year but in the very near future.

Move on a couple of months, to the launch of the 2013 car, when Montezemolo, reminded of his enthusiastic forecast, had a dramatic change of heart when the issue re-surfaced, with: “Could I imagine it will happen? No, I don’t think so.”

So what happened? What, or who, has triggered the about-turn? Alonso, that’s who. My info feed from Ferrari’s Maranello HQ reveals that the all-powerful, highly-regarded driver, twice the world champion and runner-up in last season’s classic series, opted to apply some pressure and inflict his own preferences on the Ferrari hierarchy, who are only too eager to bow to his demands.

Vettel himself, three times the world champion and the youngest ever title holder, had failed to dismiss as rubbish any notions he secretly nursed to become a Ferrari driver.

The paddock opinion was widespread — the legendary team must surely, before we are all much older, link with a driver destined to go down in F1 history as one of the greatest of all time.

Alonso, who in three years had moulded the team to his way of thinking, had little or nothing to say in public about the possibility, but behind the scenes it was a different story. I am told that in the run-down to 2012, with Alonso illuminating the grand prix world with his brilliance in a car that was clearly no match for Vettel’s Red Bull’s masterpiece, the Spaniard renegotiated his contract with a very willing Ferrari outfit.

And, I discovered, a crucial aspect of the new terms was that Ferrari, who readily accepted, would not contemplate the signing of the young German genius while Alonso was still in the driving seat as their star turn.

Not only that, but it has been leaked that Alonso, 35 when his £20m-a-year (Dh109 million) deal ends in three years’ time, has hinted he may want to stay on for an extended contract.

Ironically, Vettel, I am told, is ready to sign with Red Bull until 2016. That’s the year Alonso’s link with Ferrari is scheduled to end. Is that good timing or what for all parties?

— The writer is a motorsport expert based in the UK