McLaren call for Ferrari backup

It may have seemed an unlikely prospect mere years ago, but McLaren and Ferrari are ready to join forces to battle a formidable opponent.

One only has to turn the clock a few years back to witness the fierce rivalry between Ferrari and McLaren, whose dominance made almost every Formula One season nothing more than a two-horse race.
However, they both have been usurped recently by the relatively new kid on the block, not just in terms of an fast-rising F1 team, but also by a young racing hotshot.
Red Bull made their F1 debut in 2006, and it only took them four years to land their first constructor's championship. That same year, a young German by the name of Sebastian Vettel announced his arrival by charging his way to the drivers' championship to seal a double victory for his team.
Their dominance has continued this season, with Vettel winning five out of the seven races prior to this weekend's European Grand Prix.
And with McLaren lagging behind on the leaderboard, Jenson Button has called for help in battling Red Bull for F1 supremacy, and from none other than their old rivals Ferrari.
In particular, Button feels the time is ripe for Fernando Alonso to claim his first victory of the season, after the Spaniard clocked the fastest time in Friday's second practice session.
"We need more than just Lewis Hamilton and myself to fight Sebastian Vettel," Button told The Guardian.
"We need Ferrari in there too."
Button concedes a Ferrari win would harm McLaren's own prospects, but compared to more domination by Red Bull, it was the lesser of two evils.
"If they [Ferrari] are quicker than us they will take points off us, so it is tricky both ways.
"But I think I would rather take the risk and have them competitive, and hope we can do a better job than both of them.
"Seb is still the man to beat, but Fernando's car worked well in Canada [two weeks ago]."
Button also that Alonso could find no bigger motivation this weekend than to win a race in front of his home crowd.
"Fernando has had a couple of races where he feels he could have done better.
"And at one of his home grands prix, he will be motivated."
Alonso's best finish this season has been at the Monaco Grand Prix, where he finished second behind Vettel.