Despite widespread rumours suggesting that the double world champion could be on his way to join current title-holder
Kimi Raikkonen in a
Ferrari 'dream team',
Fernando Alonso could yet find himself frozen out by a wary Scuderia.
Much has been made about former
McLaren pilot Alonso using
Renault as a stopping-off point as he journeys between
Formula One's two foremost teams of recent years, fuelled by the Spaniard consistently listing Ferrari among his preferred destinations as he seeks to return to winning way, but the Italian giant may not be quite so willing to go along with the plan.
Speaking to Italy's
Gazzetta dello Sport, marque president Luca di Montezemolo appeared to play down the chances of pairing the two men who have captured the past three world titles between them.
"To line up a Raikkonen-Alonso double act would mean wanting to damage yourself," he said, alluding to the acrimonious situation in which Alonso found himself after being challenged on track by rookie
Lewis Hamilton in 2007, "I want two equal drivers that work
together."
Alonso has denied having an escape clause in his current Renault contract, but has made no secret of the fact that he wants to be winning races in 2009.
Although he insists that he would prefer to be doing so with the
regie, Ferrari heads the list of alternative employers that the Spaniard would be happy to join if it meant a return to the success he enjoyed between 2005-07.
"Two years ago, when I won my second world title, [winning more races] wasn't a priority any more," he admitted to Spain's
El Pais earlier this week, "Now, however, I have gone back and have the desire. Maybe 99 per cent of the time I think about winning again.
"My first option is to continue with Renault if it can build a winning car, but I do not want to keep fighting to make it into Q3. What I want is to race in a car that can give me victories. There are some teams -
Williams,
Toyota,
BMW and Ferrari - that are always on top, no matter what...."
