How Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso swap for Ferrari and Mercedes was on the cards

Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff rejected the proposal by Ferrari in 2014 to swap Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.

Fernando Alonso was arguably Ferrari’s best driver since Michael Schumacher. He might not be the last Ferrari driver to have won the title, but since 2012 no Ferrari driver has come close to winning the title.

The 2-time World Champion gave the team its glimmer of hope by almost winning the Championship title twice. In 2010 and 2012, Alonso challenged Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel for the title.

The duo went until the last round of the season in each of the instances. But Vettel was victorious over Alonso on both occasions, winning 4 consecutive titles between 2010-2014.

Alonso was targeted by Ferrari in 2009. The team were so keen on signing him and Alonso agreed with then-Ferrari president Luca Cordero di Montezemolo for the 2010 seat.

As Kimi Raikkonen was still under contract, Ferrari had to pay out Kimi’s contract and replaced him with the Spaniard. But the lack of championships and errors in crucial moments frustrated Alonso over time.

 

By the 2014 season, Alonso’s relationship with Ferrari was strained. He was clearly not enjoying being paired up with another ‘Number 1’ driver Kimi Raikkonen.

Alonso had numerous disagreements with team principal Marco Mattiacci in 2014. And this forced Ferrari to consider replacing the Spaniard.

Ferrari has a reputation for signing only the best drivers to drive their cars. Alonso was one of the best in 2010 when he was signed by Ferrari. But clearly, this was the era of Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes. And Ferrari had a plan in mind.

Also Read: Sebastian Vettel gave whip hand to Ferrari over Fernando Alonso’s tantrums in 2014

Why did Ferrari want to get rid of Fernando Alonso?

But Fernando Alonso’s relations with the team were not going well by mid-2014. Alonso finished the 2014 season without a win. This was Ferrari’s first winless campaign in 20 years.

He heavily criticised his team for not delivering a race-winning car as the cause for his failures. This was a cardinal sin in the Italian team. No driver is ahead of the team and Fernando was crossing his line by demanding and criticising Ferrari in public.

Montezemolo who lured him to the Italian team had departed. Thus, Fernando had no ally on the Ferrari board. And with Mercedes dominating the season, Fernando Alonso was looking for a move.

Alonso’s manager Flavio Briatore contacted Mercedes Team Principal and CEO Toto Wolff with an offer. Briatore told the Austrian that Alonso was interested in driving for Mercedes. In the meantime, he tried to arrange a deal for 2014 champion Lewis Hamilton to drive for Ferrari

But Toto rejected the idea of signing Alonso in place of Nico Rosberg. He also rejected any notion of letting their newest F1 Champion to leave for Ferrari.

Toto was aware of Lewis and Alonso’s heated past while they were teammates at McLaren. And he was not willing to disturb the harmonious relation Lewis had shared with Mercedes.

Ferrari instead opted to bring in 4-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel. Red Bull had agreed that Vettel would be leaving the team at the end of the season to join Ferrari.

Alonso instead terminated his contract with Ferrari after negotiations fell through. He would join McLaren ahead of the 2015 season on a 3-year-deal.

Also Read: Fernando Alonso bribed McLaren mechanics with $1500 to avoid working on Lewis Hamilton’s car