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Vettel to join Ferrari

November 20, 2014

The Italian Formula One team has announced that four-time drivers' champion Sebastian Vettel will join it at the start of the 2015 season. Fernando Alonso is to leave Ferrari at the end of this campaign.

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Fernando Alonso
Image: picture alliance/dpa/Valdrin Xhemaj
“The next stage of my Formula 1 career will be spent with Scuderia Ferrari and for me that means the dream of a lifetime has come true” – said Sebastian Vettel. “When I was a kid, Michael Schumacher in the red car was my greatest idol and now it’s an incredible honour to finally get the chance to drive a Ferrari. - See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/sebastian-vettel-raikkonen-2015#sthash.16Zia2HX.dpuf

German driver Sebastian Vettel is to race for Italian Formula One team Scuderia Ferrari from the start of the 2015 season, a statement on Thursday on the team's website confirmed.

"The next stage of my Formula 1 career will be spent with Scuderia Ferrari and for me that means the dream of a lifetime has come true," Vettel was quoted as saying in the statement.

"When I was a kid, Michael Schumacher in the red car was my greatest idol and now it’s an incredible honour to finally get the chance to drive a Ferrari," he added.

Until now, Vettel's move had been highly touted but not officially confirmed. A fake Twitter account caused confusion on Wednesday when it said that Vettel had already joined the Italian team. The official statement on Thursday got rid of any doubt.

“The next stage of my Formula 1 career will be spent with Scuderia Ferrari and for me that means the dream of a lifetime has come true” – said Sebastian Vettel. “When I was a kid, Michael Schumacher in the red car was my greatest idol and now it’s an incredible honour to finally get the chance to drive a Ferrari. I - See more at: http://formula1.ferrari.com/news/sebastian-vettel-raikkonen-2015#sthash.16Zia2HX.dpuf

"Scuderia Ferrari has decided to put its faith in the youngest multiple champion in the history of Formula One," Ferrari team principal, Marco Mattiacci, said in the statement.

Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso race
Alonso is currently fifth in the drivers' championship and has often finished behind Vettel this seasonImage: picture-alliance/dpa

Alonso makes way

Meanwhile the Italian team confirmed that Spanish driver Fernando Alonso (pictured right, above) will leave the team after the season finale this Sunday in Abu Dhabi. The move was agreed "by common consent," according to the statement.

"Today is not an easy one for me, because even if I always look to the future with great enthusiasm and determination, at the end of this season my journey as a Ferrari driver will come to an end," Alonso was quoted on the website as saying.

"Without a shadow of a doubt, these five years produced some of the best moments of my career and I also feel that, in leaving the team, it is family rather than friends I am leaving behind," the 33-year-old Alonso added, before thanking the team.

Alonso has won the F1 drivers' championship two times, before he joined the Ferrari team in 2010. His best season finish with Ferrari was runner-up. On both occasions he finished behind Sebastian Vettel in 2010 and 2013. This season the Spaniard is currently sitting in fifth place, behind Vettel, who is in fourth.

al/pfd (AFP, dpa)

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