In a deal that seems to have been years in the making, Ferrari has finally made an official announcement: Fernando Alonso will be driving for the Prancing Horse in 2010. Rumors of Alonso going to the team from Maranello started back during the Spaniard’s first stint with Renault, but circumstances with driver lineups didn’t allow for it. Instead, Alonso went to McLaren for one very unhappy season before returning to France.

Since then, Alonso’s fortunes have been mixed and stories of the Italian job have persisted. According to official statements from Ferrari today, an agreement had been reached earlier in the summer for Alonso to move to the Italian team in 2011. However, recent circumstances with the so-called Crashgate fiasco and the departure of team boss Flavio Briatore and sponsor ING have caused the date to be moved ahead a year. Alonso’s Ferrari deal runs for three years.

As expected, current driver Kimi Raikkonen will be departing a year before the end of his contract, although his future remains uncertain. Recent rumors have had him returning to McLaren, although earlier this year it was thought he might switch to the World Rally Championship.

Ferrari announced during the first practice day of this weekend’s Monza GP that Kimi Raikkonen’s contract has been extended by one year. This mean’s he’s locked into service with the scuderia until the end of 2010, which is the same time Felipe Massa’s contract runs out. Terms of the extension weren’t disclosed, but the fact that Ferrari resigned the Iceman means they aren’t nearly as worried about his recent form as the rest of the paddock appears to be. It also means that Fernando Alonso can now decide where he wants to go for at least two years and get the silly season officially over with.

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Reigning Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen says that he will consider a rally career once his F1 days are over. Raikkonen, 28, has not decided whether he will renew his Ferrari contract beyond 2009.

“When I stop driving in Formula One, I will still have fun,” Raikkonen said. “At some point I will try rallying. That interests me: asphalt, gravel and ice; it must be fun.”

Nonetheless, the Ferrari driver is reluctant to commit to a career at the World Rally Championship level.

“It’s difficult to say, because I have never done a rally seriously,” said Raikkonen. “On asphalt I would probably be OK, but on gravel I have no experience. And having a co-driver would be a difficult thing for me to get used to.”

If Raikkonen does decide to try his hand at rallying–either before or after his Ferrari contract expires next year–one strong possibility would be for him to drive an Abarth, a brand owned by Fiat, Ferrari’s parent company. Abarth reportedly will join the WRC in 2010, when the regulations will be based on Super 2000 cars. Abarth was one of the pioneers of the Super 2000 formula, having brought out the Grande Punto S2000 in 2006.

“It’s not an idea that I’ve heard talked about, but of course we’d love to run Kimi–who wouldn’t? I’m sure if he wanted to make it happen he could,” said an Abarth source.

Raikkonen has a family connection to rallying: his older brother, Rami, used to be a regular competitor in Finland, having won his class in Rally Finland with a Honda several years ago.

Kimi Raikkonen also is a fan of four-wheel-drive–his personal car collection includes a heavily modified Mitsubishi Lancer Evo road car.

Defending world Champion Kimi Raikkonen scored his second win of the season with a dominant performance in the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona, leading all the way and leaving teammate and likely title rival Felipe Massa trailing in his wake.

The big story of the afternoon was a heavy crash by McLaren-Mercedes’ Heikki Kovalainen. Just before his first pit stop, the Finn suffered a right front tire puncture at the high speed turn nine, possibly the result of suspension failure. The car speared across the gravel and buried itself below the tire wall, in a similar fashion to Michael Schumacher’s accident at Silverstone in 1999.

The car had to be pulled out by a tractor before the driver could be extricated. Thankfully a thumbs up to the TV cameras indicated that he was OK. Later it was confirmed that he’d received a bang on the head, and he was taken to a nearby hospital for observation.

Barcelona rarely produces an exciting race, and indeed this was the eighth time in succession that the race has been won by the man on pole. While there were few changes of position, it was close at the front.

Raikkonen beat fellow front-row starter Fernando Alonso off the line, while Massa also outran Alonso. Despite having one less lap worth of fuel, Massa wasn’t able to make any impression on his teammate. A length safety car period caused by Kovalainen’s accident closed up the field, and after it Raikkonen was only able to open up a gap of around 3 seconds on Massa.

Alonso held onto third place until he suffered a spectacular engine failure after 34 laps. That moved Lewis Hamilton up, and in the final stint the McLaren man pushed Massa hard, while BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica also kept Hamilton on his toes. The fact that the top four were separated by just 5.6 seconds at the end showed just how close the competition is at the front.

Mark Webber took more points for Red Bull with fifth, ahead of Honda’s Jenson Button, Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima and Toyota’s Jarno Trulli. BMW’s Nick Heidfeld suffered a 10 second stop and go penalty after being caught out when the safety car came out just before his scheduled stop, finding himself with no option but to pit to refuel. Also out of luck was Williams’ Nico Rosberg, who had an engine failure, and Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Sebastien Bourdais, who was hit by Williams’ Nelson Piquet Jr. in an incident that eliminated both drivers.

SPANISH GRAND PRIX RESULTS
1. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari

2. Felipe Massa, Ferrari

3. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes

4. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber

5. Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault

6. Jenson Button, Honda

7. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams-Toyota

8. Jarno Trulli, Toyota

9. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber

10. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India-Ferrari

11. Timo Glock, Toyota

12. David Coulthard, Red Bull-Renault

13. Takuma Sato, Super Aguri-Honda

14. Nico Rosberg, Williams-Toyota

15. Fernando Alonso, Renault

16. Rubens Barrichello, Honda

17. Heikiki Kovalainen, McLaren-Mercedes

18. Anthony Davidson, Super Aguri-Honda

19. Sebastien Bourdais, Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari

20. Nelson Piquet Jr., Renault

21. Sebastien Vettel, Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari

22. Adrian Sutil, Force India-Ferrari

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1. Raikkonen, 29

2. Hamilton, 20

3. Kubica, 19

4. Massa, 18

5. Heidfeld, 16

6. Kovalainen, 14

7. Trulli, 9

8. Webber, 8

9. Rosberg, 7

10. Alonso, 6

11. Nakajima, 5

12. Button, 3

13. Bourdais, 2

2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Raikkonen again showed the pace that helped to win his title, finishing with a dominating victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Ferraris of both Raikkonen and teammate Felipe Massa were well ahead for the first half of the race, when Massa inexplicably spun into the gravel on turn eight of lap thirty. Massa’s spin gave a big helping hand to BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica, who managed his first podium finish since Monza in 2006 by taking second place.

Points leader Lewis Hamilton made good early progress, moving from a ninth place start to fifth after the first corner of the race, only to spend a long period stymied by Red Bull’s Mark Webber. Hamilton’s best chance to jump ahead of the Australian driver was foiled when a sticky front wheel removal cost him more than ten seconds on his first pit stop.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Malaysian Grand Prix
Sepang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
56 laps; 310.408km;
Weather: Sunny.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time
 1.  Raikkonen     Ferrari               (B)  1h31:18.555
 2.  Kubica        BMW Sauber            (B)  +    19.570
 3.  Kovalainen    McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    38.450
 4.  Trulli        Toyota                (B)  +    45.832
 5.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes      (B)  +    46.548
 6.  Heidfeld      BMW Sauber            (B)  +    49.833
 7.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +  1:08.130
 8.  Alonso        Renault               (B)  +  1:10.041
 9.  Coulthard     Red Bull-Renault      (B)  +  1:16.220
10.  Button        Honda                 (B)  +  1:26.214
11.  Piquet        Renault               (B)  +  1:32.202
12.  Fisichella    Force India-Ferrari   (B)  +     1 lap
13.  Barrichello   Honda                 (B)  +     1 lap
14.  Rosberg       Williams-Toyota       (B)  +     1 lap
15.  Davidson      Super Aguri-Honda     (B)  +     1 lap
16.  Sato          Super Aguri-Honda     (B)  +    2 laps
17.  Nakajima      Williams-Toyota       (B)  +    2 laps

Fastest lap: Heidfeld, 1:35.366

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                      On lap
Vettel        Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)    41
Massa         Ferrari               (B)    31
Sutil         Force India-Ferrari   (B)     7
Glock         Toyota                (B)     2
Bourdais      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    (B)     1

World Championship standings, round 2:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Hamilton      14        1.  McLaren-Mercedes       24
 2.  Raikkonen     11        2.  BMW Sauber             19
 3.  Heidfeld      11        3.  Ferrari                11
 4.  Kovalainen    10        4.  Williams-Toyota         9
 5.  Kubica         8        5.  Renault                 6
 6.  Rosberg        6        6.  Toyota                  5
 7.  Alonso         6        7.  Red Bull-Renault        2
 8.  Trulli         5        8.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari      2
 9.  Nakajima       3
10.  Webber         2
11.  Bourdais       2

All timing unofficial

Michael Schumacher will make his debut at the wheel of Ferrari’s 2008 contender at the final group test of the pre-season in Spain next week. We have learned that the 39-year-old German, who retired from competition at the end of 2006, is scheduled to run in the F2008 on Monday, as reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen circulates in another of the Maranello based team’s Melbourne-spec single seaters at Barcelona.

It will be the first time that the two famous drivers have gone head-to-head in the same car at the same circuit, and the occasion is therefore certain to draw much attention in the racing world.

Schumacher, 39, is scheduled to hand over the F2008 to Raikkonen’s current teammate Felipe Massa for the other two days of the test at Montmelo, a municipality north of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain.

In recent months, the German has previously tested for Ferrari at Barcelona and Jerez.

Meanwhile, at the Circuit de Catalunya on Friday (today), Ferrari is exclusively conducting a full race simulation, with Massa and official test driver Luca Badoer in command of the cars.