McLaren, the truth about after Alonso

After Sir Frank Williams' refusal for Nico Rosberg, McLaren did not immediately focus on its current driver, the Finnish former Renault driver, Heikki Kovalainen. The news is one that perhaps many did not expect. According to Bild it would have been Sebastian Vettel, "Schumi's heir", a nickname given to the German driver after the tests offered with Toro Rosso, the real target of Ron Dennis' team. Who then ended up signing with the other rookie of the 2007 season, disoriented, almost embarrassing, in the first outing in Melbourne, therefore capable of expressing himself better than his teammate, the much more experienced Giancarlo Fisichella.

But we were talking about Vettel. For the twenty-year-old from Heppenheim, who supported our Vitantonio Liuzzi in the last World Championship after the departure of Scott Speed, a double-digit millionaire check was already ready to cover the costs of terminating the contract, which covered the entire year sport just around the corner. Norbert Haug, head of Mercedes' motorsport division, seemed to believe strongly in his compatriot. But he hadn't taken into account Dietrich Mateschitz, the rich Austrian businessman who owned the "energy" team (Red Bull, a company he founded), as well as the satellite team with which Sebastian competed. From him, who supported Vettel (especially economically) from an early age, a firm "no" came out.

The person concerned, however, does not seem to have any particular regrets, as we read in Auto Motor und Sport: "I'm still young," he declares. "No one has as much confidence in their abilities as I do."

Ottavia Molteni