Alonso signs for Ferrari

[Elano]

 The Formula One merry-go-round has whirred into action after it was finally confirmed that Fernando Alonso will drive for Ferrari in next season's competition.

The Renault driver's switch to Ferrari - believed to be worth £20m a year - has been an open secret in the F1 paddock for weeks, but now that it is official a welter of other moves is expected to follow.

Alsonso will drive alongside Felipe Massa in 2010 - meaning that neither Giancarlo Fisichella or Kimi Raikonnen, the Ferrari drivers at the Singapore grand prix, will be behind the wheel for the Italian manufacturer next season. Massa is currently recovering in Brazil after suffering a fractured skull in a freak accident at the Hungarian Grand Prix in July. He has begun test driving karts and is expected to be fully fit by next season.

Fischella, the Italian driver who quit Force India to join Ferrari as cover for Massa will become the team's test driver next year.

Finn Raikonnen, who famously pipped Lewis Hamilton to the championship in 2007, is now expected to team up with the British driver at McLaren-Mercedes - replacing Heikki Kovalainen - although the team claim to have made no decision.

To make things even more complex, BMW are withdrawing from the sport at the end of the season, which means their drivers are likely to be looking for new teams as well. The highly rated Polish driver Robert Kubica is understood to have already signed a contract to replace Alonso at Renault.

F1 aficionados believe Alonso's move could usher in an exciting new era, as he and old adversary Hamilton go head-to-head in the colours of the sport's most famous teams. Both McLaren and Ferrari havbe under-performed this season but they should be back with a bang next year, meaning that the cream of this year's crop - Jenson Button and Rubens Barichello of Brawn GP and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber - will have plenty of competition.

[Lil White Azz]

Kimi's departure not really surprising....let's see what happens to Kovalainen...