Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has said that making a decision regarding the team’s driver line-up for 2010 was not easy.

There has been much speculation about Alonso’s future in formula one, with rumours about a possible move to Ferrari for the Spaniard circulating the F1 paddock for months.

Yesterday, the Maranello-based team finally confirmed that double-world champion Fernando Alonso would be making the switch from Renault to Ferrari in 2010, in place of Kimi Raikkonen.

Alonso signed a three-year deal with Ferrari and will partner the recovering Felipe Massa, who has been absent from the sport for the second half of this season after being struck on the head by a spring during qualifying for the Hungarian grand prix.

In a press conference at the Suzuka circuit in Japan, which plays host to this year’s Japanese grand prix this weekend, Domenicali said: "We are happy as a team to have Fernando joining us, there is no doubt about that.

"But for the moment, we want to concentrate on the remaining races of this season, so the atmosphere here within the team at the track is one of maximum concentration on what we have to do in order to get the best possible result for the season as a whole.

"Certainly, this announcement is the first step towards 2010, which will be a very important year for us.¿

"As always when you have to make this kind of decision, it is not necessarily an easy one, as with Kimi and Fernando you are talking about two great drivers, both of them champions.

"But dealing with these situations is why we are here and if you ask whose decision it was, the answer is that it is a Ferrari decision, but as the head of the team, the decision rests with me."¿

Domenicali also said that he is confident Massa will be back in the cockpit of his Ferrari at the opening round of the 2010 season.

"I am sure Felipe will be back to his normal self for the beginning of next season. He is recovering very well and is already in the second stage of his training, doing some karting activity," said Domenicali.

"Everything is going very smoothly and I think he will be back in Europe next week to work using our simulator and after that, we will see what will be the next step.

"As for speculation that he will return to the cockpit for the Brazil Grand Prix, I can refute it categorically."¿¿

The Ferrari team principle had nothing but praise for Raikkonen, referring to the Finn as "a great champion."

"You will never hear me saying anything negative about Kimi, never," said Domenicali.

"Looking ahead, we felt this was a decision we had to take. You look at all the options and then go with what you feel is the best one.

"As for the driver’s personality, of course Fernando is more Latin, because he is Latin.

"We know he will relate differently to Kimi to the team.

"But as the team principal, it is important that our values which demand that the team has to be respected by the drivers, remains the same as ever."¿

And when asked whether having two top-line drivers will be a problem for the team, Domenicali said that Ferrari will deal with the Massa-Alonso pairing in the same way as they have dealt with the Massa-Raikkonen partnership over the last three seasons.

"We will deal with this the same way we have controlled Felipe and Kimi over the past two years, because this is the way we manage the team," said Domenicali.

"Drivers who want to come and race for us have to respect our rules.

"We saw a situation where Felipe helped Kimi, the year Kimi won the title and then Kimi helped Felipe last year, even though unfortunately he was not able to take the title.

"And it will happen in the future, because this is the way we work and is part of the team’s spirit."

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