Ecclestone reveals special 'Ferrari deal'

20 December 2008

As Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has said he wants to see a greater transparency from Ecclestone about the revenues in Formula 1 Bernie Ecclestone now hits back at the Italian by revealing Ferrari's special deal with Formula 1 where the Scuderia is receiving millions of dollars extra.

An angry Ecclestone has told The Times that the Ferrari president should be the last person to be complaining about how much revenue the teams receive. "The only thing he has not mentioned is the extra money Ferrari get above all the other teams and all the extra things Ferrari have had for years - the 'general help' they are considered to have had in Formula One," Ecclestone told The Times.

"Ferrari get so much more money than everyone else," Ecclestone said. "They know exactly what they get, they are not that stupid, although they are not that bright, either. They get about $80 million (about £54 million) more. When they win the constructors' championship, which they did this year, they got $80 million more than if McLaren had won it."

Ecclestone reveals that the reason for paying Ferrari the extra $80 million goes back to 2003 when F1 teams tried to form a breakaway championship. Ecclestone explained: "They were the only team that broke ranks with the other manufacturers - why did they break ranks? That's where the $80 million comes in. We 'bought' Ferrari. We 'bought' Ferrari's loyalty. Our deal with Ferrari was that we 'bought' them so they would not go to the others."

Alonso-Ferrari rumours resurface

Rumours linking Fernando Alonso with Ferrari resurfaced on Sunday when the Italian newspaper, Gazetta dello Sport, published an article stating that the Spaniard has signed a four-year deal with the team from 2011.

Alonso was widely linked with Ferrari throughout last year after his future at Renault was in doubt but Kimi Raikkonen put a dampener on the speculation after electing to extend his current contract with the team.

Felipe Massa also secured his future with Ferrari and this left Alonso with no other choice than to continue with Renault after the team returned to their winning ways towards the end of the season.

But now, respected journalist Pino Allivei has reported that Alonso has agreed to a four-year deal as of 2011 with get-out clauses included for both sides.

It is also suggested that Alonso could possibly complete the move as early as 2010 if Raikkonen fails to improve his current form.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo did not shy away from his liking for Alonso and during a recent meeting with the press the Italian did little to try and hush the rumours.

When asked about the Spaniard, di Montezemolo said: "He's a fantastic driver, no question. I like him. Particularly in Japan he drove a great race. He's a champion and a team leader, but for the moment we don't have any problem with our current drivers.

"That is why we confirmed officially Massa and Kimi until the end of 2010. Life is long and in the future we will see. But for the moment we don't have any grey areas regarding drivers for the next two years."

A Ferrari spokesman declined to comment on the Gazzetta report, but told news agency Reuters: "We can only repeat that we have two drivers signed to the end of 2010."