Alonso says the fact that his former teams are always willing to keep “one door open” for him.

Fernando Alonso has confirmed he will leave Ferrari and he has reportedly already signed a deal to return to McLaren next year. On Tuesday, the Spaniard appeared to be openly laughing at the Maranello team’s latest managerial shakeup, after Ferrari split with team boss Marco Mattiacci. Sebastian Vettel was in Ferrari next year, and as a result Fernando Alonso was out.

Asked if he could return to Ferrari one day, he replied: “I don’t know. More or less I know the questions you will do normally but I did expect this one so I’m not prepared to answer! At the moment it’s not an option because if you say bye-bye it’s not because five minutes later you think you might come back.”

He added on ESPNF1: “I went from Renault to McLaren, and then I came back to Renault. I went to Ferrari, maybe I’ll come back. It seems that people that work with me give me one door open, which is different to things I read about being difficult to work with.

“At the end of the day the places I work I can usually come back to so that’s a good sign.”

On the other hand Vettel reacted by telling Ferrari he was disappointed to have not been informed about the major shakeup.

Former F1 driver David Coulthard admits he has some concerns about Ferrari’s 2015 driver line-up, despite Vettel and Raikkonen’s combined five career titles.

“Kimi Raikkonen’s return to Ferrari was the worst season for one of their drivers since 1982,” he told the Telegraph, adding that Vettel also “looked a shadow of himself” in 2014.

“The German did not like the new formula, he did not like the engines,” Coulthard explained. “That is fair enough, but his mantra seemed to affect his ability to perform.”