Will Massa be Alonso's lapdog?

Spaniard Fernando Alonso is a powerful, influential Formula 1 driver, and his move to Ferrari is not only a huge talent bonus to the Scuderia, but also a marketing Holy Grail.

For years the Red Team had the legendary Michael Schumacher as its principal driver, completely sidelining the hapless Brazilian Rubens Barichello. The latter had quit the team in frustration and had moved on to partner Jensen Button in Honda, and then most recently in the Brawn. No one can blame him, because the situation was really bad, at times Barichello had to 'allow' Schumacher to win the race or take track position due to team orders.

When Schumacher left the team at the end of 2006, Kimi Raikkonen took his place, but never really got into his shoes. It was no longer a one man show for Ferrari, Felipe Massa, who had replaced Barichello a year ago looked in top form and every bit as fast as Raikkonen. Both drivers were likely candidates for the world championship and team orders were no longer the solution for Ferrari. But will the situation change again, now that Fernano Alonso, an effectively more powerful driver than Raikkonen?

Alonso is a double world champion, and is the man who broke Schumacher's winning streak in 2005 and then 2006. He also came a very close second to Raikkonen in 2007 when he was at McLaren. Many analysts expect Alonso to take over the position of the number one driver for Ferrari, with Massa playing a lap dog, the way Barichello did for Schumi.

However Massa claims there won't be much trouble in the Ferrari camp. "Whoever comes to Ferrari is always going to be a very strong driver, because they always have the best ones," crash.net claims he told Brazilian radio station Jovem Pan FM.

"I will do as I always have done - try to win. The work within a team is always collective. Schumacher carried a great influence at Ferrari because he earned it; he arrived, worked and created a competitive team. To have that position you have to work hard and achieve results." he added. Massa in fact outdid Raikkonen in the 2008 season and fought to the very end of the season; he eventually finished at #2, mainly thanks to Timo Glock slowing down on the last lap, allowing Hamilton to grab the championship winning point.

Massa does admit that Alonso is a "great driver...one of the best in Formula 1". But a McLaren-type rivalry at Ferrari would more or less spell doom for the Maranello team. When he was at McLaren, Alonso got into a bitter fight with Lewis Hamilton, who made his debut in the same team two years ago, and gave his partner a run for his money. Will we see something similar in Ferrari this season? The bonus is that Raikkonen has left Ferrari and is likely to join McLaren to partner Hamilton in the 2010 season.