Alonso: “A privilege to race for Ferrari”

Fernando Alonso has said he feels "happy and privileged" after extending his contract with Ferrari until the end of the 2016 Formula 1 season.

The Spaniard was signed by the Maranello team last year and had a contract until the end of 2012, but the team confirmed the four-year extension today.

“It was good news for me and for my career to extend the contract until 2016,” said Alonso in Barcelona for the Spanish GP weekend.

“Also, as I said last year, it is my intention to finish my career with Ferrari. I can't imagine a better place for a driver to race. I was lucky to arrive last year and I felt at home from day one, I have the chance to race here until the end of 2016, so I will be at Ferrari for seven years. I'm happy and I feel privileged, and maybe in 2017 we'll do another contract. We'll see if I'm not too old and if Ferrari still wants me."

Alonso said extending his contract with Ferrari was a natural decision: “It doesn't change much for me, in my mentality. It was already very clear that I wanted to race for this team for many years, and unlike the contract, stability was always certain for me. It's just a public confirmation, nothing has changed in the team."

“I have to say it was a very easy decision for us. We started talking about it two weeks ago and we both wanted to continue. I'm happy with the team and they seem happy with me so we said 'ok, let's sign a contract extension'. We agreed until 2016, and everything is clearer for us, for the team members it was important to have stability. It was a bilateral decision."

Alonso said he is convinced that Ferrari is the best team with which to try to win championships again: “In F1 it is impossible to make predictions and it is impossible to predict whether championships will be won. I'm certainly in the best possible team to fight for the world championship. Other teams have ups and downs, have good and bad years. At Ferrari in the worst years you finish second or third in the championship."