Would Ferrari Fire Fernando?

 

Prost was fired for publicly criticising Ferrari (commons.wikimedia.org photo)

The most successful F1 driver in history at the time was fired by Ferrari just prior to the 1991 Australian Grand Prix. Alain Prost who had committed the cardinal sin of publicly criticising the famous Italian team, was unceremoniously dismissed by Ferrari a few days before the race in Adelaide.. "I've pointed out and underlined the defects of Ferrari throughout the season," Prost had claimed two weeks earlier in Japan, "but no one really listened to a word I said." Well, yes they had, according to Ferrari's Managing Director, and they didn't like what they heard. "We are always prepared to take constructive criticism as a team," Claudio Lombardi said in Adelaide, "but Prost made too many critical comments outside the team."

Prost was vacationing at an Australian resort when he received the shocking news that his services would no longer be required and that he would be replaced in Adelaide by Ferrari's test driver, Gianni Morbidelli. From then on all dialogue between the team and the fired Frenchman was conducted in press releases. Prost stated that 'Ferrari's treatment of me has been brutal.' Ferrari responded with a terse 'The behaviour of Prost was not according to our standards.' Prost's final words were that these would be his final words 'in light of possible litigation' over the shredding of his contract which was due to expire at the end of 1992. Ferrari said, OK, 'We may also take legal action...At this stage, we probably will.' They didn't but Prost, who was unemployed for the 1992 season, got a measure of revenge the next year when he was hired by Williams where he won his fourth world championship.



Luca and Fernando (BBC Sport photo)

Ferrari's current boss Luca di Montezemolo has publicly censured Fernando Alonso for publicly berating the team whose failure to provide him with a competitive car prompted the Spaniard (who turned 32 on 29 July) to flippantly declare that: "As a birthday present I would like the same car as the others." These would have been fighting words for the team's founder who demanded loyalty above all else from his drivers. According to Enzo Ferrari a driver's worst fault is "To suggest that something is wrong with the car in order to disguise some of his own lack of ability." Enzo had a low opinion of modern drivers: "They ask for enormous sums of money, like film stars, and come out onto the track as though they were actors on a stage." 

Luca Di Montezemolo began his Ferrari career as Enzo Ferrari's assistant. How will Luca handle the superstar whom Enzo might regard as a bad actor?  

Link to Luca's Alonso rebuke...
 

 http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/montezemolo-this-ferrari-doesnt-sit-me