The 2008 F1 season has revealed much. Ferrari has a great car, but needs a motivated, master driver. Fernando Alonso has returned to prominence, but needs a better car. Are you think what I am thinking?

Mention Formula One and the same criticisms are spewed out. There is no real fire. Drivers do not try to pass one another enough. The personalities are to boring. There is no real passion with the teams.

What would spice up Formula One? A good rivalry. One already exists between Ferrari and McLaren. The dust up over the spying last year only caused the animosity to fester even more. Still, angry manufacturers do not make for an emotional rivalry.

What would really make Formula One boil is a tremendous driver rivalry. We saw it last year. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton went at it tooth and nail to say the least. The fact they were both driving for McLaren made things even better, if a bit odd.

For much of this season, the rivalry has short circuited do to the poor performance of the Renault. That has changed recently and what has happened? Alonso and Hamilton have fired up the rivalry. Hopefully, they will meet on the track in the last few races as well.

This season has seen a switch for the manufacturers. The Ferrari is the superior car, but driver and team errors have been common. McLaren is a bit slower, but Hamilton has been a superior driver, particularly in the rain.

Take the current Ferrari team and add Alonso to it for 2009. He is a dominant personality, much like Shumi was before. It is hard to imagine the team having the same gaffs as this year. Alonso is also a superior wet driver, which makes up a shortfall.

Obviously, Ferrari will need to open a seat. Heck, they should boot both drivers. Alonso and Vettel sound like a good team. Alonso and Massa is a more likely pairing. The demise of Kimi is sad, but it is clearly his own fault.

As with any good rivalry, you just cannot sit on the sidelines for this one. You will root like mad for one driver and cuss the very mention of the other. There simply is no other way to deal with the situation.

Just imagine it. Qualifying. Racing. Each and every week, McLaren and Ferrari going at it. Alonso passing and cutting off Hamilton. Hamilton passing and cutting off Alonso. The rivalry would make for must watch viewing all season long.

If Alonso ends up at Ferrari, the number of plots and subplots would be staggering. One has to wonder if Bernie will start moving behind the scenes. Can you imagine the interest in the 2009 season if such a rivalry came to be?

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