Honest talk with Alonso

Fernando Alonso will depart from his beloved Ferrari team. The two-time world champion speaks about the reasons behind his decision and the past year when he raced in the fabled scarlet car.

The hour of honesty has arrived: Fernando Alonso’s departure from Ferrari has been a public secret for a few weeks. The Italian team revealed today that they would part ways when the curtain falls in the Formula 1 season in Abu Dhabi. The Spaniard endured a tough afternoon in the desert when he was interviewed by the press.

Alonso admitted he was very proud to be part of the Ferrari family and grew as a driver over the years, but admits he felt that it was time to embark on new challenges.

“I felt it was the time to find new projects, new motivation. It was not an easy decision to make. I was in talks, even last year to be honest, and we wait for this year, for the new car, the new turbo era etc. This year I felt around summertime, September, it was time to move and I take the decision. Only time will tell if it’s a good one or a bad one. But what is for sure is that it has been an amazing experience. So, so happy, so proud to have had those five years with an amazing team, amazing brand like Ferrari. I grew up as a driver, as a person, only good feelings and good words. Obviously we missed the championship, came three times second, but I am extremely proud of those second places and the work we did in those years. Now it is time to close one door, to open a new one and we’ll see how it goes."

The Spaniard added that he could learn a great deal in the past years and he had a fantastic group of people around him.

“I enjoyed the experience, as I said before, and I feel very privileged of what we achieved and lived in those years. The group of people I worked with, it was amazing. I learned so many things in those five years. I’m not the same driver as in 2009, when I arrived. I think I’m more prepared now. I’m better in all the aspects of the driving skills. I think it was a very, very important step in my career. You need to feel the moment when it’s time to move. As I said, I felt it was time for me to find new things”

Alonso was thankful to Ferrari for not blocking his way and letting him go.

“I expressed my wish to the team in September. They understand; they were very helpful on that because obviously I had two more years’ contract. But they understand my position, they listen and I think it’s the best for both parts and now hopefully we can battle for better positions and wins in the future.”

The Oviedo-born driver disclosed that he already had some doubts about the future at Ferrari last year. However he decided to wait and see how Ferrari takes on the new challenge in the all-new turbo era. When he realized that Ferrari failed to be a title contender, he sat down with President Montezemolo.

"It was not a special moment of the year that I opened the eyes. As I said, last year I had some doubts about 2014. I knew that it was a big change of regulations, so I thought it was the best thing to check how the 2014 new turbo era was going for Ferrari and then, yeah, I had a very close relationship with president Montezemolo, we talk every week and we, more or less, agree that, if this year we were not competitive again, maybe I could think on other options. And yes, when I arrived summer break, I said maybe it’s time to sit with the president and see if for them it’s OK, I would like to go. I need to thank so much Ferrari because they could say no but they understand it was the best for the two parts. This is, again, a true sign of respect and love for this team - and they show me also respect on that. As I said, I stop as a Ferrari driver but from Monday I am a Ferrari supporter."

Fernando revealed he even considered to extend his contract with Ferrari, but when he realized the potential future of Ferrari, he decided that it was time to jump ship.

"Well, the thing is a little longer than I explained. We tried to see what was the best possibility. In fact it was… renewing the contract possibility also in the first couple of months of the year, to extend the contract until 2019, so it was a little bit of things going on during the year. Then, when you are inside, when you see things, when you see how the teams are moving, which direction are moving things for the future, maybe you agree, maybe you don’t agree. Probably I didn’t agree so much and in September I said maybe it was the best thing to say bye-bye if it was possible. If I had something in September? No. I had that decision, I have to be happy, I have to be motivated, I need to love what I’m doing and in September I felt it was not the case. And in September I felt that it was not the case - and then after that, I started to look at some possibilities. I trust what I will have."

Finally, Alonso also said that he only told the team members this morning that he was about to leave. He is set to wear a special helmet which features the signatures of every member of Ferrari racing crew.

"I wear a helmet with a picture of a pit stop this year on one side, the Italian flag in the middle and the signatures of everybody in the team on the other side. I just told them this morning that it’s the last time that I will jump in a Ferrari, so I want to bring all of them with me because they were a part of this fantastic experience and I want to do my last race with them on the track. To be honest, it’s a been a little bit of tricks because at Sochi, I took all the signatures from everybody but when I arrived here, we were missing 20 or 25 so now the helmet is not as perfect as it should be, because now we have all the 25 signatures everywhere but I’m happy and proud of them and happy to wear them on my helmet."