
From his brief tenure at McLaren, we know that Fernando Alonso has a bit of trouble getting along with his teammates. Especially when he doesn't get the clear preferential treatment as the team's #1 driver. After all, as has often been said, a driver's teammate is his chief rival. So after Ferrari confirmed that Alonso and Felipe Massa would be put on equal footing, we smelled some trouble a-brewin'. But we didn't expect it to start at least until the beginning of next season. Turns out, that was a bit premature, as some cracks in the relationship between the two teammates-to-be have already started to show.
Speaking with a group of journalists in his native Brazil where the F1 circus is preparing for this weekend's grand prix, Felipe Massa said with "absolute certainty" that Alonso knew about the plan to have wingman Nelson Piquet crash to hand him the controversial victory. That's a pretty hefty charge levied by his future teammate, and Ferrari naturally scrambled to issue a clarification (which you can read after the jump) but you can't take back what's already been said.
Massa was suitably – and vocally – upset when the Crashgate story broke, because without Alonso's ill-earned victory, Massa would have won the championship last year, instead of losing to Lewis Hamilton by one point at the last corner of the last lap of the last race of the season. Better luck next year, gents.

When Felipe Massa was taken out of commission at the Hungarian Grand Prix last month, the questions on everyone's mind was who would replace him and when he'd be back. With regards to the former, Ferrari is one of the few teams on the grid that doesn't have a junior driver development program in place. The team doesn't usually have a problem getting the best drivers, but when disaster (literally) struck, the Scuderia was left without options.
Michael Schumacher prepared to come out of retirement to fill his prodigy's seat, but his own lingering physical issues prevented that, leaving Ferrari with little choice than to promote one of its aging test drivers – finally opting for Luca Badoer after his ten-year hiatus from active racing instead of its other test driver, recent Le Mans winner Marc Gene – with less than satisfactory results. After finishing just about dead last in both of the races he's contested so far, Ferrari has admitted that it's looking at other options for the rest of the season. Giancarlo Fisichella is said to be one possible Ferrari driver and could stay on in the long term to replace Badoer as test driver as well. Robert Kubica is being touted as another, while still more reports suggest that Fernando Alonso could bolt from Renault a bit early and take up residence with Ferrari.
If these rumors seemed at first a little odd with Massa first rumored to return by the upcoming Italian Grand Prix and then readjusted to the subsequent Brazilian Grand Prix – the home races for the team and driver respectively – it now looks like Felipe won't be back this season at all. After undergoing tests at the Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Massa is scheduled to undergo plastic surgery to repair a fractured section of skull resulting from the incident in Hungary. Tellingly, Ferrari says they're looking forward to Massa's return for the start of next season.
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While not exactly confirmed, it seems that past rumors of a switch for Formula One driver Fernando Alonso from his current partnership with Renault to Ferrari still have legs. In an offhand remark made during an interview with BBC Sport, McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh indicated he expects the Fernando to Ferrari deal to take place at the end of the current season. Such a move could potentially trigger a number of driver changes for 2010.
We've heard plenty of reports that current Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen will retire from F1 at the end of 2009, possibly making a switch to the World Rally Championship as a driver for the Fiat rally team. If that's true, expect Alonso to join Felipe Massa – who is currently recovering from a serious head injury – as drivers for the Scuderia.
For Ferrari's part, an unnamed spokesperson tells the BBC, "Things can happen and not happen. But you cannot talk about any Fernando-Ferrari move. We have two drivers with a contract until the end of 2010. We are not under pressure to change anything." Despite Ferrari's assertion, we'll be a bit surprised if Alonso's not wearing red next year.

The World Rally Championship is targeting the participation of four major manufacturers within the next two seasons, and according to the latest scuttlebutt, they just might get what they are wishing for. At the turn of the millennium, the premier rally series had seven manufacturers, but series organizers and promoters reportedly feel that four would make for a more competitive environment.
Suzuki and Subaru recently withdrew their works teams from the championship, leaving Ford and Citroën as the only manufacturers in the sport together with the independent customer teams. Both Volkswagen and Fiat are expected to launch WRC efforts in the near future, but it's Fiat's initiative that's garnering the most interest in the motorsport press, as it's rumored to include one very big name.






