The Italian press has not given up hope that Fernando Alonso could soon be at the wheel of a Ferrari.

La Gazzetta dello Sport, the country's famous sports daily, said after Kimi Raikkonen's championship hopes mathematically slipped away at Fuji that Ferrari should have contemplated showing the Finn the door.

"It's a question we have to ask," the paper's correspondent wrote. "Was it really sensible to renew Raikkonen's contract?

"(Luca di) Montezemolo has called the Finn a striker in search of his lost goals, but Kimi seems more like a mechanic who has lost the operating instructions to his car.

"He now has two more races to help Massa and show that he still has the desire. If this run continues, Ferrari must make the call to Alonso."

Ferrari's 1979 champion, Jody Scheckter, believes Kimi is receiving too easy a time from the team's management.

"Raikkonen's life at Maranello would have been much more difficult if Enzo Ferrari was around," the South African told the Spanish newspaper Sport.

Scheckter believes Ferrari should have signed Alonso. "I think Ferrari needs someone with his personality; someone capable of being in control of things."

Former double world champion Alonso, however, is adamant that he is not going to be wearing red overalls any time soon.

Asked after Fuji by the Spanish radio network Cadena Ser what percentage chance he assigns to a Ferrari switch, the Spaniard answered: "Zero.

"Ferrari has already announced its drivers, so there is no possibility."