Ferrari rules out Alonso/Vettel line-up in the future

The Italian outfit has made no secret of the fact that Vettel is a driver that it is interested in for the future when Alonso retires, but there has been speculation that the Formula 1 world champion could do a deal even sooner and race alongside the Spaniard.

Speaking at Ferrari's Wrooom media event at Madonna di Campiglio in Italy on Wednesday, team principal Stefano Domenicali reckoned having two top talents like Alonso and Vettel would not necessarily be a good thing.

"We have always said, and I think that the president [Luca di Montezemolo] also declared, that a dream team is something extraordinary if it is well managed and if things work well," he said about the prospects of Vettel being signed as a future team-mate of Alonso.

"For now, I think that this is not our goal. We have to maximise the balance of our performance of the team. We must be very careful.

"It is not just in F1 because it is true also in the world of sport. If you put all the number ones together around the table it can be more damaging than positive. So for the time being, this is not our goal."

Domenicali also said that Alonso will respond to criticisms from Red Bull's Helmut Marko that he is 'too political' only on the track.

Marko caused a stir earlier this month when he suggested that Sebastian Vettel had gained a decisive edge in the world championship because he had not dabbled in the political games that he reckoned Alonso wasted time with.

Domenicali said he was completely happy with Alonso's approach to his job with Ferrari.

"Honestly, I think Fernando is extremely focused on performance and, as always, there are some persons who think they can stimulate reactions in others - to try to tickle them, to attack what they think, and that they may be weaker," said Domenicali.

"But from my viewpoint I can assure you that my focus is to give an answer, a response, on the race track rather than with words - because words don't count for much.

"We are simply going to try and answer to all this by being strong and being in front."