Montezemolo: We have best drivers.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has shrugged off suggestions that the Scuderia is lining up to sign disenchanted rival Fernando Alonso by claiming that it already has the two best drivers in its cars.

Speaking to the tifosi at Ferrari's traditional end-of-season gathering at Mugello, Montezemolo admitted that he was aware of the rumours linking the two-time world champion to Maranello, but insisted that he was not giving it any particular consideration.

"Alonso?" he smiled, "I appreciate his sportsmanship and the fact that he fought until the end, but I have little idea about what his future holds and don't want to comment on them.

"I believe that we have the two strongest drivers in the world. Kimi has achieved something that only [Juan Manuel] Fangio and [Jody] Scheckter have achieved before him - to be world champion in their first year with Ferrari - while Felipe took the most pole positions, and only lost some races because of reliability problems."

Montezemolo also refused to comment on speculation surrounding his relationship with team boss Jean Todt. The diminutive Frenchman was rumoured to rubbing the president up the wrong way during the season - Ferrari's first without 'Team Schumacher' in place - but Montezemolo insists that he intends to respect the stability Todt has brought to the squad.

"Ferrari has won seven world titles in the last nine years," he pointed out, "Behind Jean, there are young technicians, mechanics, capable engineers.... Our secret, as I have said many times before, is the courage, the capacity, the creativity and the spirit of the team.

"If we won this extraordinary season, it is because we have fantastic people, and these will be the base for the future of Ferrari. We will invest in youth, and in the business, but also retain stability. I am always hearing rubbish spoken by people who know very little about Ferrari, and I want to tell them to keep their fantasies to themselves."