Fernando Alonso may have closed the door on his career with Ferrari but when prompted to say he would never return to the Italian marque, he chose to leave a window open.
After five years racing for the Prancing Horse, Alonso yesterday bid farewell to the sport’s most iconic team.
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His last showing in the red car was far from his best, as he finished ninth at Yas Marina Circuit last night, to end up sixth in the drivers’ championship, but it was undeniably emotional with the entire Ferrari team dressed in tribute shirts, thanking the Spaniard for his tenure at Maranello.
“It was emotional. The worst moment to be honest was on the grid,” recounts Alonso, a world champion with Renault in 2005 and 2006.
Grazie ancora. #tantaroba pic.twitter.com/gcW02uNG8k
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) November 23, 2014
“When I jumped in the car and we fired up the engine and all the mechanics stayed there with the blankets, until 20 seconds to go… I saw the faces of the two guys at the front tyres. They were looking at me with their eyes shiny and… it was tough to put the first gear and start the race.”
Alonso had considered parting ways with Ferrari at the end of last season, after finishing runner-up to Sebastian Vettel for a third time in four championships. Despite his frustration at the performance of the car, which he continued to describe as uncompetitive, he stuck around for one more season, but his final decision to leave the team came two months ago – at a time when most top teams appeared to have no vacant seats.
“These other teams, if they made up their mind around that moment, it’s also because I said ‘no’ to them,” revealed Alonso, implying that he had turned down a number of offers from those at the front of the grid.
His future is believed to be tied to McLaren although the official announcement will be made on December 1 and Alonso refuses to confirm what has been common knowledge for some time now.
The 33-year-old spent a turbulent season with McLaren back in 2007 and it would have seemed unthinkable at the time that he would return. With that in mind, does Alonso think he could come back to Ferrari in the future?
“I don’t know,” concedes the Asturian.
“I think at the moment it is not an option because obviously when you say ‘bye bye’ it’s not like five minutes later you will say you will come back.
“But I went from Renault to McLaren, then I came back to Renault. I went to Ferrari… maybe I come back to other teams.
“It seems that the people that work with me they give me one door open. People read that I am very difficult to work with, but at the end of the day, the places that I worked at, I can come back normally, so that’s a good sign.”
Alonso’s exit was accompanied by some tension between him and the new team principal 
, who implied over the weekend in Abu Dhabi that the Spaniard lacked commitment and motivation compared to the younger Sebastian Vettel, who will replace him.
The comments were met with disdain from Alonso, who made sure he hit back at the Italian’s comments.
But such recent events have not soured Alonso’s feelings about his last five years with Ferrari.
“From one to 10, I think those five years, I’d give them a nine,” he said. “I enjoyed it so much. I grew up as a driver, as a person. I worked with amazing people here and I raced with heart and I raced with the best level of my career.
Congrats to the world champion @LewisHamilton !! Amazing performance every race!! #welldone pic.twitter.com/lkSF3jldc3
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) November 23, 2014
“We missed the title but let’s say that we raced against a very dominant era of Formula 1 with Red Bull and this one with Mercedes, no one could get closer to them.”
His reasons for leaving are very clear. He misses winning titles and wants to be able to compete for that once again.
“I think with the Mercedes form that we saw this year it’s going to be tough for any team to recover that gap, but yes I hope to do better and to enjoy some battles and some podium positions and better performance,” he says of his future.
“It’s terribly difficult to close the door of Ferrari, knowing that I won’t wear this red colour this year – that’s a very very difficult decision to make but I guess it was the same for Felipe (Massa) also last year after a long relationship, saying ‘bye bye’ to the team.
“But today he is second, enjoying the podium and I’m ninth. I miss being on the podium, I miss celebrating with champagne, I miss winning races, winning titles and I think that a new project for me will bring that possibility closer. Maybe not in one year’s time but in the future I have no doubts that I will fight again.
