Fernando Alonso says Michael Schumacher is his biggest threat

Add to My Stories Two thousand feet up and masquerading as a musketeer, Fernando Alonso was in a mischievous mood. Michael Schumacher, he contended to gasps of astonishment, remains the most potent threat on the Formula One grid.The moustachioed Ferrari driver delivered his maverick analysis in the Italian Dolomites during the team's lavish annual skiing trip. It sounded like a quip. But the German reporters were not for laughing. They sought an explanation.

Taking a punt: Alonso believes Schumacher will be a title contender in 2011 'There will be five world champions this year and I was asked which one would be the main rival now, in January, before we start,' said Alonso. 'I have to say Michael. He is a seven-time world champion and has nothing to prove.'The car will be new for 2011. He was not as strong in 2010 but he will always be super class. If the car is right, he is the contender we fear most.' Altitude gone to your head, Fernando?Schumacher turned 42 earlier this month, after returning from three years in retirement to finish 70 points behind his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg last season.Even when the car was adapted mid- campaign with a longer wheelbase to suit Schumacher's driving style, the results were not overwhelmingly successful.However, the 2011 machines are markedly different. The Bridgestone tyres are gone, replaced by Pirellis. KERS, the energy boost system, is back. Moveable rear wings are on.

Eyes on the prize: Schumacher (right) struggled on his return to the grid last season The wings, controlled by yet another gadget on the steering wheel, are designed to facilitate overtaking. So perhaps, just perhaps, the revamping of Schumacher's Mercedes (under the direction of guru Ross Brawn, who prioritised the new car over last year's relative dud before the end ! of last season) will allow the old Weltmeister to prove Alonso's musings correct when the 20-race calendar starts in Bahrain in March.The 29-year-old Spaniard came to Madonna di Campiglio with two niggles. The first was a slight tear to a leg muscle that confined him to the sofa for eight days, but he has now recovered and is skiing, fast if not elegantly.

CARS ARE TOO COMPLEX

Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa are worried they'll have too many buttons to press on their steering wheels following the latest rule changes. Speaking at Ferrari's annual winter retreat in the Italian Dolomites, the drivers addressed the admission of adjustable rear wings, the return of the KERS power boost system, plus the switch to Pirelli tires. 'Without realising it, we're losing the focus on driving,' Alonso said. 'The cars become tougher to drive when you have to make all these changes from one turn to the next.' The second was the terrible strategy call that brought him into the pits too early in November's seasonclosing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.He had only to finish fourth to win his third world championship at the end of his debut year with Ferrari. He came seventh.The culpable Australian, Chris Dyer, has been moved aside and two Englishmen have stepped up. Chief strategist Pat Fry joined last season from McLaren, while Neil Martin, a recruit from Red Bull, will now analyse races from Ferrari's Maranello headquarters and report to Fry.Any questions about Abu Dhabi or the other debacle of last year - Ferrari's imposition of team orders against the rules in Germany, which resulted in Felipe Massa moving aside for Alonso - were liable to elicit a pandemic of shrugs and gesticulations from Ferrari's loyal press officer.At one point he was only a tic-tac short of John McCririck delivering the starting prices for the 3.40 at Kempton.The mood within Ferrari is now rightly one of looking forward. Apart from, that is, the odd reference to Herr Schumacher.

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