Future Ferrari Team Mates

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Formula 1 world champion Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel is reportedly set to sign with Ferrari.

The German ace currently leads the 2012 championship after winning his third straight grand prix in South Korea on Sunday.

British media believes Vettel will replace Felipe Massa at Ferrari after the Brazilian was resigned for one more year.

However, Ferrari president , Luca di Montezemolo, rejected reports that Vettel was set to join the Italian outfit.

"I've always said that I don't want two roosters in the hen-house. I don't like that and it creates instability in the team," he told Italian radio.

Germany's Vettel, currently racing for Red Bull, is the reigning Formula One champion and on Sunday drove to victory in the South Korean Grand Prix, leapfrogging Ferrari's Fernando Alonso at the top of the drivers' standings.

Alonso had sanctioned the move after previously ruling out pairing up with Lewis Hamilton, who will move from McLaren to Mercedes next season, according to unnamed sources at Ferrari quoted by British media.

The Spaniard won the world title in 2005 and 2006 with Renault but has not finished above second with the Italian team.

The reports also state Vettel has signed a pre-contract agreement that is said to contain performance-based clauses that will mean Ferrari have to produce certain results to have Vettel sign.

If the 25-year-old was to sign with the Italian powerhouse - alongside title rival Fernando Alonso - it would mean arguably the most powerful line-up in Formula 1 history.

Related articles

• Vettel tops F1 standings
• 'Vettel to take Massa's Ferrari spot in 2014'
• Vettel might join Ferrari in 2014
• Korean GP: Vettel, Alonso duel for Formula 1 lead
• Vettel's F1 title to lose after win
• Webber takes pole position in South Korean Grand Prix

Alonso Wins Deustchland Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso has won a riveting German GP from Sebastian Vettel - although the World Champion's pass on Jenson Button for second place is under investigation on a day of high drama and controversy at Hockenheim.

At this stage, all that can be written with any degree of certainty is that Alonso has extended his lead of the World Championship after a race of faultless supremacy. The Spaniard led from start to finish, rebuffing first Vettel and then Button after the much-improved McLaren snuck past the Red Bull when the German returned to the track at the second round of pit-stops.

Their roles were reversed on the final lap when Vettel found a way past Button - a way that saw all four of the RB8's wheels off the track as it rounded the MP4-27. Despite Vettel's wide-eyed protestations of innocence when confronted by an unimpressed Button after the race, it was a move that immediately looked highly dubious and a stewards' investigation is underway - a process that Red Bull will be all too familiar with after only escaping a pre-race penalty when the stewards were forced to concede that they had wriggled through an engine-mapping loophole.

No such controversy surronded Alonso's 30th career victory, however. Despite never escaping from the close proximity of either Vettel or Button, he remained unruffled throughout and always just far enough ahead to avoid a challenge for the lead of the race. Too quick, too clever, too good.

Too bad, though, for Lewis Hamilton after his McLaren ran over the debris left strewn across the first corner when Felipe Massa carelessly lost the front-wing of his Ferrari at the start of the race. By the time that Hamilton had returned to the track with his puncture repaired, Alonso was a full minute further up the road and the 2008 World Champion was once again facing a race of frustration.

But you can't keep a magnet for controversy out of the limelight for long, however, and Hamilton was launched back into the cut-and-thrust of the battle for the lead of the race when, out of sequence from the frontrunners after his second stop, he found himself tucked up behind Vettel, faster but also a lap down. The response was typical Hamilton as the McLaren driver swiftly unlapped himself, drawing an indignant reaction from Vettel that was repeated in the post-race press conference.

"It was stupid for him to disturb the leaders," complained the reigning World Champion.

Hamilton's day of misery ended with a tactical retirement on lap fifty-eight and since winning in Canada he has scored a paltry two points in three races. A pre-break fillip in Budapest next week is desperately required - for his confidence as much as his title aspirations.

The good news, then, is that the prospect of a McLaren victory is back within the realms of possibility with the MP4-27 a full match for both the Red Bull and Ferrari throughout the race and Button very nearly pulling off an unlikely victory until overcooking his tyres towards the end of his final stint.

After enduring arguably the worst slump of his career, Button was back to his stylish best this weekend, his quest for victory amounting to a finely-judged three-pronged attack interspersed between his two pit-stops: stage one) overtake Nico Hulkenberg and Michael Schumacher to follow in the wake of the two leaders; stage two) pass Vettel for second, under-cutting the Red Bull with a faster lap on fresh rubber and an ultra-fast pit-stop that saw McLaren set unofficial world record; stage three) overtake Alonso for the lead of the race.

Close but not quite - and trust Alonso to be the only fly in the ointment as Button finally rediscovered the zip that saw him take victory in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Alonso Poles in Rainy Hockenheim

Fernando Alonso secured pole position for the German GP in treacherous conditions that, also once again, found the McLarens wanting and saw the two Red Bulls narrowly defeated by Ferrari's resident genius.

Roll out the superlatives. Pole-sitter in Saturday's relentless downpour at Silverstone, Alonso's wet-weather skills came to their formidable fore again as the Spaniard slithered his Ferrari around a soaked Hockenheim half-a-second faster than Sebastian Vettel.

In normal racing conditions, that sort of margin is a lifetime; in conditions like this, with the session only barely fit for racing given the amount of standing water on track, it was only Alonso's abnormal skill that had the paddock in his awe. Having described himself as being in the condition of his life on the eve of this weekend's event, his sustained excellence this year surely declares Alonso to also be the peak of his considerable driving powers.

Suffice to say that while Alonso was taking pole position, his Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa was already taking the F1 equivalent of an early bath after struggling to keep his F2012 on track after the rain began to fall during Q2. No such problems for Alonso, however, and not much of an answer from the rest of the field.

The much-changed McLarens have appeared far more competitive this weekend than they did at Silverstone but both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button found themelves bereft of grip when running on wet tyres and they ended the session eighth and seventh respectively.

"We've got to be a little disappointed with the final qualifying result; we were looking good in both Q1 and Q2, so I don't understand how the others went quicker as the track dried slightly towards the end of Q3," lamented Hamilton.

Mark Webber's five-place grid-slot demotion on account of a gearbox change will see the English duo move up a place but an inherited promotion will be of a meagre consolation to a team that is struggling to stay in touch with Red Bull and the brilliant Alonso. A better showing is expected from McLaren in Sunday's forecast dry conditions, but, once again, Hamilton and Button will start out playing catch-up.

At least the home crowd will have plenty to cheer about courtesy of Webber's demotion from third to eighth given that it means Alonso will start the race just in front of three German nationals - Vettel, Michael Schumacher and Nico Hulkenberg. As if McLaren didn't have enough to worry about, the driver separating them from that home contingent is 2012's very own pantomime villain, Pastor Maldonado.

Paul di Resta was a creditable ninth, but Hulkenberg's season-best performance was the last thing he needed at a time of the year when Mercedes are known to be mulling over their options for 2013. If a vacancy does appear, Hulkenberg's three successive qualifying defeats of his Force India team-mate have perhaps thrust him to the head of the queue.

But that's a matter for another day, just as Saturday was a day which literally began with the calm before the storm. For a very brief while, as the usual suspects - including Toro Rosso's Jean Vergne, making his sixth exit from Q1 in ten races - dropped out at the first qualifying hurdle, it appeared as if that rarest of 2012 things - normality - was set to make an overdue appearance. But no sooner had Q1 finished than a clattering rumble of thunder rang out across the Hockenheim circuit, signalling the onset of rain and yet another dollop of manic mayhem.

They say that the rain tends to separate the men from the boys and the final Q2 pecking order certainly suggested as much with Hamilton and Schumacher - closely followed by Alonso despite his close to proximity to Massa when the Brazilian spun off - heading the timesheets even after being among the last cars to venture on to a circuit that became slower and slower throughout. Schumacher's performance was thrust into even more creditable perspective by the struggle of team-mate Nico Rosberg, as the second Mercedes slithered to 17th on - and occasionally off - the road.

Rosberg's frustrations were mirrored by Romain Grosjean, with the young Lotus driver, so impressive when the rain stayed away last Sunday at Silverstone, also unable to match the exploits of his more experienced team-mate - Kimi Raikkonen - and his unexpected Q2 elimination compounded by another five-place grid penalty. "It's strange," was the best the crestfallen Frenchman could venture as explanation, who like Rosberg will drop a further five places on the grid owing to gearbox changes.

It was, however, a description that could be adequately applied to a season that continues, in equal measure, to enthral, baffle and dazzle - particularly when Alonso is raining supreme.

Alonso Shocked by de Villota Accident

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Ferrari's Fernando Alonso has said he was "completely shocked" by the accident in which Marussia test driver Maria de Villota lost her right eye.

De Villota, 32, is in "critical but stable" condition in hospital after crashing into a lorry at a test on Tuesday.

Marussia have not revealed the cause of the accident.

"Obviously we are all very worried about the situation and are waiting for more news," Alonso said.

"We don't know the situation but it is difficult to imagine how this can happen."

Alonso, the world championship leader, is Spanish, like De Villota, and revealed earlier this week that he had spoken to her family during the aftermath of the crash.

Marussia announced on Wednesday that De Villota had an overnight operation on Tuesday to repair a fractured skull.

There has so far been no further update on her condition.

Alonso said: "We only know what you all know and there are some difficult days until we know the situation."

McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton added: "I don't know her personally but when I read about it I was absolutely devastated for her and her family, absolutely tragic. The team and I send our wishes to her and hope she has a speedy recovery."

Felipe Massa has drawn upon his own experience of being involved in a Formula 1 accident to offer support for de Villota.

The Ferrari driver was injured during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix three years ago, when a spring broke loose from the car of compatriot Rubens Barrichello and struck him on the helmet.

"She has my full support because I've been in a similar position. Thank God nothing happened to me," said the Brazilian.

"I really hope everything will be OK for her and for her to live her life in the way she deserves. It's difficult to know what happened because we don't know yet. I read it happened at an airfield and she hit a truck, this is not normal to have this kind of accident in Formula 1.

"My accident happened on track so it's different. The most important thing is that the FIA understands what happened. We need to make it the maximum safe we can. She has all my positive thoughts that everything will be OK."

De Villota failed to stop in the makeshift pit at a straight-line test at a Cambridgeshire airfield and hit the tailgate of a lorry that had been left in the down position.

The team say they are conducting an investigation into what happened and will reveal more information at a later date.

Alonso Wins Eventful Valencia GP

An extraordinary race ended with victory for Fernando Alonso, delirium in the Spanish grandstands, and bewilderment at how one race, expected to be a bore, could pack so much drama.

What started as a procession for Sebastian Vettel ended in bedlam as Pastor Maldonado rammed Lewis Hamilton off the track, Michael Schumacher inherited the first podium of his second life in F1, Kimi Raikkonen was classified as finishing second after the stewards somehow failed to notice the Lotus overtaking a Toro Rosso under double yellow flags, and Alonso endorsed a reputation that lists the Spaniard as the finest driver in motorsport.

For Alonso, tears of jubilation. For Hamilton and Vettel, angry fist-pumps. For everyone else, bewilderment at what had just unfolded.

For starters, there was the most unexpected of questions to answer: Just how had Alonso achieved the seemingly impossible in securing victory after starting eleventh on the grid at a circuit infamous for its lack of interest in overtaking?

Good fortunate played a favourable hand, of course. How could it be argued that it didn't when Vettel was forced to retire from the lead of a race he had dominated, technical gremlins also did for Romain Grosjean when the Frenchman was well set to claim his maiden F1 victory, and the now all-too familiar McLaren pit-stop calamity allowed Alonso to nip ahead of his World Championship rival? Yet above all else, this was a victory which owed its largest debt not to fortune but the genius and bravery of Alonso.

Yet while the race ended as a breathtaking classic, the irony is that for a vast swathe it appeared as if 2011 was returning with a vengeance as Vettel disappeared into a race of his own, pulling away at a rate of a second per lap all the way through to his first pit-stop.

The first proverbial spanner thrown into the works was the deployment of the Safety Car after the wretched Jean-Eric Vergne had inexplicably rammed the Caterham of Heikki Kovalainen - misbehaviour which will see the Frenchman suffer a five grid-slot demotion in Silverstone - and set in motion a train of events that ended with Alonso securing the most dramatic victory of his career and, in the process, a sudden 20-point lead in the World Championship.

Having had to wait six years to win on home Spanish soil for the second time in F1 the usually controlled Alonso was clearly overwhelmed: "Really difficult to express in words what is the feeling at the moment," Alonso said.

"Winning the home Grand Prix is something unique, a very special feeling. I had the opportunity [to do it] in Barcelona 2006 with Renault and I still remember that day perfectly and now did the same here in Valencia with this special team, Ferrari.

"Winning in Spain this race is probably the best victory I ever felt, or in terms of emotions, nothing maybe compares to this one."

Alonso's surge to 11th from first was only party of the story, though. Within a lap of the race being resumed, the Red Bull suddenly crawled to a halt, seemingly without warning, promoting Alonso into the lead after the Ferrari superstar had muscled his way around Grosjean on the restart. Barely had that shock been absorbed, and a distraught Vettel been spotted slapping his gloves against a walls, than Grosjean also succumbed to unreliability, leaving Hamilton in second, closely followed by Raikkonen, and the grandstands in a state of delirium.

Whatever next? First, the peculiarity of Hamilton being investigated for an offence that Raikkonen had clearly committed. Then, just when it seemed as if the McLaren was poised to make a late push for victory, Hamilton flat-spotted a tyre, resulting in a loss of position to the Finn and then, spectacularly, the loss of a points-paying finish as Maldonado rammed him into the barriers.

Cue the Englishman punching his steering-wheel and yet more celebrations in the grandstands amid the realisation that Alonso had somehow plundered 25 points on his chief World Champion rivals having started five grid-rows behind both Vettel and Hamilton. 2012 truly is the year of the unpredictable.

And there was one more sting in the tale still to be told. With Maldonado's Williams losing its nose whilst ramming the side of Hamilton's stricken McLaren, it fell to Schumacher to inherit another position. But which? The German had no idea.

"As I crossed the line, I asked the guys 'where have I finished?'" he recounted in the post-race conference.

F1 Whispers Alonso on 30 Million...

Ferrari have ridiculed reports that Fernando Alonso is paid €30m a year - a figure which would make the two-times World Champion the highest-paid driver in F1.

Via the 'The Horse Whisperer' blog on their official website, the team have scoffed at claims in 'something called "Business Book GP 2012"' that the Spaniard earns '30 million Euro per year, or almost the same as the two McLaren drivers put together'.

Bristling with indignation, the blog declares: 'A shame that it's an other case of utter balderdash, that shows once again that those who compile these lists, usually like to quote themselves and each other, like dogs chasing their own tails, always putting Ferrari on top when it comes to money, whether it's referring to driver salaries or budgets.

'Things ain't what they used to be we are told, but, when it comes to money, the song remains the same: Ferrari spends more than anyone. A shame then that the reality is very different, as those who work in the business know only too well.'

What Ferrari are not denying, however, is the Spaniard's critical importance to the team after out-driving the misbehaving F2012 to claim a win in Malaysia and podiums in Spain and Monaco.

In a separate interview published on the Ferrari website on Tuesday afternoon, President Luca di Montezemolo hailed Alonso as "the best driver in the world", and went on to compare the two-times World Champion to former Ferrari greats Niki Lauda and Michael Schumacher "who have had a great importance in my professional life and in that of Ferrari."

"Alonso has a fantastic attitude: just like Schumacher, he knows how to work closely with the team and he maintains that positive attitude, even in the difficult moments. Now the aim is to improve for the round in Canada," added di Montezemolo.

Alonso Seeks Jerez Improvment

Fernando Alonso has insisted that there is still room for improvement in the F2012 - even after setting the fastest time on the fourth and final day of the Jerez test.

After a modest opening three days to the winter, the new Ferrari finally flexed its muscles early on Friday morning as Fernando registered the second-quickest time of the week, an eye-catching and table-topping 1:18.877.

The result left the Spaniard in a positive mood as he reflected on the week - even though another technical glitch limited his Friday running to just 39 laps.

"We learned a lot about the difference of the car [compared to last year's], it's been a learning test for us, a lot of constant speeds for us to do the aero and mechanical tests," the former World Champion toldSky Sports News.

"Overall, it has been a positive four days for us and understanding the car. But obviously with a completely new concept and a completely new design there is a lot of room for improvement for us and that's what we need to focus on in the next couple of tests."