14.8.09

The following article was written by Chris Hockey and first appeared in The Sun (so it must be true):

They say the Italian giants have told the 2007 world champion he can have half the value of his 2010 contract — thought to be worth £25million — to end it one year early.

That could open the door for Fernando Alonso to join Felipe Massa in a Ferrari cockpit next season — and for Robert Kubica to become Renault team leader.

Alonso is widely thought to have a 2011 Ferrari contract in his pocket.

But the team would love to secure the Renault ace a year early.

Raikkonen has had a lacklustre couple of seasons following his title triumph and has frequently been outpaced by the less vaunted Massa.

The Finn is believed to be keen to remain in F1 and is said to be exploring options with other teams.

But in the longer term he is poised to move into rallying — and had a spectacular outing in his home country's recent World Rally Championship event.

Kubica is now a free agent following BMW's decision to withdraw from F1 at the end of the season.

The lanky Pole was once part of the Renault Driver Development programme and would be a natural choice to fill Alonso's shoes if the Spaniard moves on.

However, McLaren, Toyota and Williams are also interested in signing him up.

McLaren will almost certainly not retain the under-performing Heikki Kovalainen next year.

But Williams driver Nico Rosberg — who seemed certain to go to BMW before the German giant's pullout — is the favourite to become Lewis Hamilton's team-mate at Woking."