Ferrari has announced that it has renewed its "technical and racing agreement" with Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard committing himself to the Italian team until the end of the 2016 season

"It is a great pleasure to have renewed our agreement with a driver who has always demonstrated a winning mentality even in the most difficult circumstances, said Luca di Montezemolo. "Fernando has all the required qualities, both technically and personally to play a leading role in the history of Ferrari and I hope he will be enriching it with further wins very soon."

"I am very happy to have reached this agreement," added Alonso. "I immediately felt comfortable within Ferrari and now it feels to me like a second family. I have the utmost faith in the men and women who work in Maranello and in those who lead them: it is therefore natural for me to decide to extend my relationship in the long term like this, with a team at which I will no doubt end my Formula One career one day."

Since joining the Maranello outfit, the Spaniard has virtually made it his own, as witnessed in Germany last year when the team, virtually acting on his orders, told teammate and race leader Felipe Massa to step aside.

While unable to replicate the team spirit the outfit enjoyed with Michael Schumacher, Alonso's recruitment is clearly popular with most fans, while his fight-back in the latter stages of last season demonstrated that his fighting spirit is as strong as ever.

While currently losing out to Red Bull and McLaren, Alonso remains optimistic that Ferrari can stage a 2010-style recovery this year, while his commitment to the team for a further five years speaks volumes.