Ferrari and Fernando Alonso had reached an agreement in 2000
Present at Monza, the FIA President and former director of Scuderia Ferrari, Jean Todt, reveals in the Gazetta dello Sport that Ferrari had reached a principle agreement with Adrian Campos, Fernando Alonso's manager, even before Flavio Briatore set his sights on the young Spanish prospect at the time.
In 2009, when Scuderia Ferrari officially announced the arrival of Fernando Alonso, it seemed an obvious choice for a driver who had known glory with Renault and faced disappointment at McLaren in 2007. While the Asturian revealed this weekend that he could only see himself ending his career at Maranello, it’s reported that the native of Oviedo could have donned the red suit much earlier than 2010.
Indeed, Jean Todt, former director of Scuderia Ferrari from 1993 to 2007, reveals, alongside the Italian Grand Prix, that the Italian brand had already been in contact with the Spaniard even before his career began in Formula One: “We had found a basic agreement with Fernando, but he then signed with [Flavio] Briatore,” the Frenchman confided in the pages of the *Gazetta dello Sport*. “It was after his victory in F3000, at Spa [in 2000], that we got in touch with his manager, who came to my home in Maranello, where we reached an agreement. [When he signed with Briatore,] it was something I took badly and, after that, there were no more contacts.”
Here is undoubtedly why Jean Todt has always shown a preference for Kimi Räikkönen, as he believed, a few years ago, that Kimi fit better than Alonso into Ferrari’s philosophy, particularly emphasizing that the Finn was modest and had nothing arrogant about him.
Adrian Campos, manager of the Asturian at the time of the events, confirms the contacts with the Scuderia: « Ferrari told us to wait and not to sign with anyone else, but Briatore showed up with a contract in hand. » Ferrari’s ambition could have been, as it later did with Felipe Massa, to place the Spaniard at Sauber to gain experience before promoting him to Ferrari alongside Michael Schumacher, replacing Rubens Barrichello who had joined Maranello in the year 2000.
Nonetheless, Jean Todt believes that Fernando Alonso is a very good leader at Ferrari and that, along with Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, he is among the favorites for the 2012 title.
