Ferrari is expected to announce a new sponsorship deal with Spanish bank Santander tomorrow. Will this lead to them finally announcing Fernando Alonso is joining the team?
Santander to announce Ferrari deal
"Ferrari will announce its sponsorship deal with Spanish banking giants Santander at Monza on Thursday."
Equipe de Barrichello terá patrocinador brasileiro no GP do Brasil, em Interlagos
Brazilian beer brand Itaipava to sponsor Brawn at the Brazilian Grand Prix. (Portuguese, thanks to Willian for the tip.)
Back from the brink: Felipe Massa draws inspiration from near-death experience
'Massa shudders for the first time. "I was very touched by his death. And I told my wife straightaway about the accident of Henry. I said to her, 'Listen, this is what you need to be worried about. This is something you have no control over. It is not like a normal accident.' And then a week after that … [he claps his hands and laughs] … it happened to me.' The Guardian gets the exclusive first interview with Felipe Massa after his crash.
Jenson Button is choking under weight of title expectation, says Felipe Massa
The other British newspapers that have picked up on Massa’s interview have gone with the Jenson Button angle. Massa freely admits he’s “hoping for Rubens… He?óÔé¼Ôäós Brazilian and he is my friend.”
These are links I’ve bookmarked using Delicious. You can see my Delicious profile here.
PatrickL
9th September 2009, 8:11
Rubens has ben ‘choking’ all year. They guy puts in one good race and all of a sudden he’s the hero. Pfft.
Kovy
9th September 2009, 8:26
He’s outperformed Button in the last 5 races.
He’s had 5 races ruined by mechanical failures (spring in Hungary, clutch + gearbox in Turkey, clutch in Australia and Belgium.) Good job to only be 16 points behind. I doubt it’s a human error with the clutch/anti stall, he’s been racing for 17 years so you’d think he knows what he’s doing.
Definitely had a poor start to the year, but he’s picked up his game.
matt
9th September 2009, 16:51
I thought he just started badly, causing the anti-stall to kick in at Australia and spa?
Noel
9th September 2009, 9:07
The interview with Massa in the Guardian is excellent – well worth a read. I’ve always had a soft spot for Felipe, although naming your child after yourself is punishable by jail in some countries :)
KNF
9th September 2009, 13:49
Didn’t boxer George Foreman name all his sons George? I think in Felipe’s case, he just worried about memory loss from his accident… :D
Steph90
9th September 2009, 9:21
As a Ferrari fan and mostly Massa and slightly Kimi and Alonso I am completely sick of this faffing on about Alonso and if/when he’s moving and who he will replace.
Great news Massa is recovering and nicely said about Button
:Pcome back soon FelipeLustigson
9th September 2009, 12:29
“Santander confirms Ferrari switch”, headlined F1-Live.com… on November 26, 2008.
So, in a way, there’s nothing new to be said. Or Ferrari and Santander should announce a title sponsorship deal — Scuderia Ferrari Santander — and/or the signing of one F. Alonso DÃaz.
Prisoner Monkeys
9th September 2009, 12:32
Santander have no place announcing Ferrari’s driver lineup, even if they influenced it. Ferrari would want to make that decision themselves.
And I wouldn’t be too surprised if they waited until the 21st to make a decision regarding Alonso … if they were ever going to make one to begin with.
DC
10th September 2009, 11:07
Luca di Montezemolo on the Ferrari website.
Prisoner Monkeys
9th September 2009, 12:29
Same. I’m totally over people convincing themselves that it’s happened and assuming that somebody else said it.
Santander has no say in Ferrar’s driver lineup. Phillip Morris is said to be paying two hundred millions dollars American for naming rights to Ferrari, and Santander cannot compete with them, even if they survived the economic meltdown better than other banks. They are most likely going to become a secondary sponsor the way they were with McLaren; my guess is that they are getting their name on the car early so that when tobacco branding is banned and Phillip Morris leaves, they’ll be in a better position to become title sponsor.
While title sponsors may have some influence over who drives for the team, this is Ferrari we’re talking about. There’s no shortage of people who would be willing to pay exorbiant amounts to sponsor them, so if Ferrari don’t like the terms of the sponsorship deal, they can always go somewhere else. They’re the only team who can really afford to. But putting that aside, who ever heard of a secondary sponsor – like Santander – being able to influence a driver lineup? Even a smaller team like Minardi and Jordan would have laughed at them.
I’m sick of people grasping at straws, saying that Kimi has a bad attitude, that his drinking is a problem, that Ferrari are combing his contract for a way out, that he’s only gotten good now that Massa isn’t there to upstage him and that Ferrari don’t care about his safety because they’re letting him compete in “unsafe” rallying.
It’s all complete and utter BS, and I sincerly hope that Ferrari don’t sign him simply so that I can have the world’s largest “I told you so” moment.
Steph90
9th September 2009, 12:51
Well said Prisoner Monkeys!
Prisoner Monkeys
9th September 2009, 15:17
Thanks. I should like to think it’s always well-said.
Ididnt
9th September 2009, 16:35
I personally like to see the best driver in the biggest team, so hope to see Alonso in a Ferrari next year.
I am getting tired of watching second-rate drivers winning this year – with the exception of Raikonnen, Hamilton and possibly Vettel.
Steph90
9th September 2009, 17:24
I hate this speculation. I just wish everyone would make up their minds and get on with it. Though I do have nice image in my mind of drivers all hopping from one car to the next.
Steph90
9th September 2009, 17:25
I completely agree with you there but that has been the nature of this year.
The Idiot
9th September 2009, 21:51