Ferrari Team Principal Stefano Domenicali on the grid at the Hungarian Grand Prix this summer with Kimi Raikkonen (top). The Finn, who won the world championship in 2007 with the Scuderia, is being dropped by Ferrari to make room for the arrival of Fernando Alonso (bottom).

With news of the confirmation of Fernando Alonso's signing for the Scuderia on a three year contract making headlines around the world, Ferrari Team Principal Stefano Domenicali has answered some questions about the Spaniard and next season. "We’re happy that we made this agreement with Fernando, who is not only a driver of great talent, but also victorious," says Domenicali, who belives that Alonso is "the right choice for the future." The Team Principal adds: "as he has shown many times throughout his career, also under difficult conditions. His contribution will be very important to bring Ferrari back to the level where it has to be, to fight at the top.”

"How did you come to Alonso?"
“As Chairman Montezemolo said recently, all the great champs want to come to Maranello sooner or later. With Fernando we started talking about a prospective for 2011, but then there were the conditions to anticipate the start of our relationship already as of the upcoming championship, we preferred to take the opportunity.”

"What will the Scuderia’s official formation look like next year?"
“Next to Fernando we’ll have Felipe Massa, who is recovering very quickly to his best physical condition, with Giancarlo Fisichella as the surrogate driver. We believe that this is the best possible couple for a team like ours: Fernando and Felipe are two victorious drivers and they integrate very well with each other and with the team.”

"And Raikkonen? What’s the situation?”
"We spoke with Kimi and agreed to end our contract one year ahead of schedule. The three years together were very intense and successful, culminating with the extraordinary win of the World Championship in 2007 and the decisive contribution to conquering two consecutive Constructors’ titles. This year, although with a car not part of the best on the track, Kimi has shown especially in the second half of the season, what he is able to do: he has given a lot to Ferrari and he received a lot. I’m sure that he will remember this time together with us as one of the most beautiful times in his career, just like we will remember him with affection and admiration as a driver with such extraordinary talent and such an honest, transparent and loyal man deserves.

"What’s the spirit you are going into this last part of the season?"
“We are on the third place in the Constructors’ standings, but we know that it will be difficult to keep it. We’ve seen that there are many teams still developing the cars, while we are putting all our energy in the project for 2010. Furthermore, more than in any other season before, there are many teams fighting for the win, while there are only so many places on the podium. Kimi and Giancarlo have the right stimuli to give it everything in the last three races."

There have been much speculation in the media in recent days over the size of Alonso's retainer for switching to the Italian team and talk that he could bring key technical personnel from Renault with him, echoing the time when Michael Schumacher first arrived at Ferrari from Benetton along with the core of the team that had helped him achieve his success there. Ferrari has been quick to downplay the rumours, issuing a statement on its website today that reads: "Reading certain newspapers one might think that there is a gold rush in Maranello. There is lots of talk about Fernando Alonso's arrival, but even more so about how much the Spanish driver will earn and what the details of his contract with the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro look like. The numbers talked about have absolutely nothing to do with reality. It's easy to write numbers, forgetting that the world has changed recently. At Ferrari a lot of calculating is done and attention is not only paid to the costs of the operational structure, but also as far as the drivers are concerned. It's also quite funny reading about the arrival of technicians, as if there weren't any professionals in Maranello, able to plan and manage victorious single-seaters and drivers: just remember that, however this season went, Ferrari won 50 percent - and maybe even more, when you consider Singapore 2008 - of the world titles in the last 30 years. There's no other team with the same results. Having said that, there are so many stories out there, almost creating a chain reaction of inventions from A to S."