Ferrari were at the centre of two bizarre stories on Thursday at Monaco Grand Prix practice involving Fernando Alonso and Red Bull technical wizard Adrian Newey.
In the most predictable, the Red Bull team’s technical boss Newey distanced himself from speculation linking him with a move to join Ferrari.
“I remain committed to Red Bull for the foreseeable future,” said Newey, in a short statement.
Newey, designer of the car that carried defending four-time champion Sebastian Vettel to four successive titles, was non-committal on his future recently when asked about the prospect of a switch to Ferrari in the future.
His statement on Thursday appeared to make clear that he will remain with the champion team.
In the second, and more unexpected, statement, Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo chose to become involved in a curious debate about the merits of his team’s lead driver Alonso.
“Fernando is the best driver in the world, who always gives 200 per cent in the races,” di Montezemolo said.
“He knows how much I count on him, even away from the race track — in terms of his contribution and the impetus he gives to the team.â€
Di Montezemolo spoke after a spate of reports on Thursday suggested that Alonso felt he was not appreciated enough by Ferrari, following praise of his efforts from Mercedes chairman Dieter Zetsche who had hailed him as, perhaps, the sport’s top driver.
Di Montezemolo said: “I think it’s incredible that there are still some so-called experts who don’t understand that (his appreciation of Alonso’s value) and are always looking for a polemical situation that simply doesn’t exist.”