Fernando Alonso and Stefano Domenicali say Ferrari's driver recruitment policy hasn't changed

Fernando Alonso and Stefano Domenicali have both denied that Ferrari's decision to replace Felipe Massa with Kimi Raikkonen represents a change in approach for the team.

Alonso said his experiences in 2007 at McLaren, where he and Hamilton fought each other for the title before both ultimately lost out to Raikkonen, justified Ferrari's approach. "We start in Australia as always, the cars are the same and we try to score as many points as possible. And then we arrive at the final races of the Championship and one of the two drivers has been lucky enough to score enough points to be fighting for the Championship and Ferrari try to help that possibility," he added. "Other teams, they don't try to help that possibility and they lose the Championship. I was in one of them. "It's not the same as a first and second driver, because they're lucky in how the Championship goes for one or the other." Alonso also said he held some sway in the decision to lure Raikkonen away from Lotus - but only after Ferrari's management had decided to replace Massa. "I was always informed about the plans. But I think until the last moment the team didn't make a decision and then when they decided that it was better to change Felipe, they asked me what was my opinion - and my opinion was that Kimi was the best in the market," he added. "Especially with a Championship with many changes next year, in terms of developing the car in January, February, a team-mate who has many years in Formula 1 was important."