Fernando Alonso signs for Ferrari

Fernando Alonso will be racing alongside Felipe Massa in 2010.

As technical partner of Scuderia Ferrari, Shell is delighted to announce the signing of Fernando Alonso to the famous Italian racing team. The two-time World Champion joins the Scuderia from Renault F1 Team on an initial three-year contract with an option to extend this deal until 2014.

Richard Bracewell, Shell Global Sponsorships Manager commented, “We are delighted to welcome Fernando Alonso to the Scuderia Ferrari family. He is a very charismatic driver with a fantastic global appeal, which will make him a very powerful global ambassador for the Shell brand. His talents are unquestionable, as his career shows. We would like to thank Kimi Räikkönen wholeheartedly for his superb performance on and off the track on behalf of Shell. Kimi brought us our 12th Drivers’ Championship with Ferrari and for that we will be eternally grateful. Most recently he took centre stage in a Shell refuelling challenge in Singapore in front of hundreds of Ferrari fans and as always showed his competitive streak to beat the previous best time set by Giancarlo Fisichella.”

Fernando Alonso, 28, started his Formula One career with Minardi in 2001 before moving to Renault in 2002. His first competitive start for the French outfit was in 2003 and his first win came only 13 races later, setting the record, at the time, for the youngest driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix. 2005 was the turning point for Fernando, as he challenged Ferrari legend and Shell Global brand ambassador Michael Schumacher for the Drivers’ World Title. He eventually took the Championship by 21 points and was crowned Formula One Drivers’ Champion.

Fernando Alonso retained his title in 2006 by just 13 points and became the youngest double World Champion in Formula One history. After one year at McLaren, Fernando returned to Renault F1 Team and has excelled in his underperforming car, winning three races in the past two seasons.

Fluent in many languages, the Spaniard is also widely regarded as one of the most talented drivers on the grid and is the most successful current Formula One driver on the circuit. Shell is confident that Fernando will bring even greater success to the technical partnership with Ferrari as he joins the rich heritage of two great motorsport brands.

Selected quotes from Scuderia Ferrari:

Stefano Domenicali: “We are very proud to welcome to our team another winning driver, who has demonstrated his amazing talent by winning two World Championships in his career to date. Of course, we wish to thank Kimi for everything he has done during his time with Ferrari: in his first year with us, he managed to win the Drivers’ title, thus making his contribution to Ferrari’s history and he played a vital role in our taking of the Constructors’ title in 2007 and 2008. Even during a difficult season like this one, he has demonstrated his great talent, with several good results, including a great win in Spa and we are sure that we can share more good times together in the final three races of this season.”

Kimi Räikkönen: “With common consent, we have agreed to terminate the contract binding me to Ferrari to the end of 2010, one year ahead of schedule,” said Kimi Raikkonen. “I am very sad to be leaving a team with which I have spent three fantastic years, during which time I won plenty of races. Together, we have won 50% of the world titles in that period and I managed to take the Drivers’ title in 2007, thus achieving the target I had set myself at the start of my career. I have always felt at home with everyone here and I will have many happy memories of my time with the team.”