Alonso: We are in no way the favourites for the title
31 August, 2012
Fernando Alonso speaks to the media at Spa
Aug.29 (Ferrari) Clearly the press had missed their chats with championship leader Fernando Alonso, as the Scuderia Ferrari motorhome was packed on Thursday afternoon in the Spa-Francorchamps paddock, for the Spaniard’s usual pre race-weekend press conference.
The Ferrari man was asked first if he felt he was the title favourite going into the final rush of the season, “No, I don’t think the summer break has changed anything,” he began.
Obviously when you stop for a few weeks and look at the points and the classification, you can see there is a good advantage for us, but two or three bad races and you can lose everything. In terms of performance, of the guys that are up the front, we are clearly the slowest. We have a points advantage and a performance disadvantage, so we are in no way the favourites.”
If the month long break seemed long, it’s nothing compared to the intensity facing the drivers for the rest of 2012. “Nine races in thirteen weeks is challenging for everyone – from the team’s side because most of the races, seven of them, will be outside Europe,” said Fernando.
“And that makes it a little bit more difficult to bring upgrades for the car. For the drivers and team members it will also not be easy as we have three races every month now, with time zone changes and a lot of travelling.”
“From my own point of view, during this summer break, I tackled my physical preparation as though it was the winter, training very hard. It’s as though we had one championship that ended in July with another one starting now in September. So I start from zero on full batteries and I think we can arrive in great shape at the end.”
So where exactly does Alonso feel he and the team are currently in terms of the pit lane order, if they are not favourites. “It’s difficult to know exactly where we are in the hierarchy as the performance has changed race by race, with the gap to pole position varying,” reckoned the Spaniard.
“The last time, it was around 8 tenths of a second, which is a bit too much, so we need to improve that situation. We will see what happens here and in Monza, which are special tracks as we run the cars with very low downforce, so anything can happen in these next two grands prix, when we need to score some really good points.”
“Maybe the next true reference point will come in Singapore and Japan and by that point we really must close that 8 tenths gap down, if we want to fight with the others.”
This weekend marks the three hundredth Grand Prix for former Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher and Alonso was keen to add his own praize, to mark the occasion.
“Michael will always be the reference, because you need to respect someone who has won seven titles, so many races and had so many pole positions,” he affirmed.
“He is the “record man” in Formula One and as long as he is still on the grid with us, he will be the best and the one I respect most and the one I try to copy the most. We should all have maximum respect for him,” added Alonso.
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@Hawk
For you information, if you’ve read or seen Alonso’s interviews, he has given Ferrari enough credit where it is due. He has praised them for their constant hard work they are putting into the car. All he’s trying to say is that, that is not enough. And its not just HIM saying that. The team principal, Domenicali, himself asserts that the car is not fast enough and that Alonso has been extracting every bit of that car and everybody else in the world of F1 agrees to that. I or if I could speak for many other people have NEVER heard Alonso say “its because of me that we’re leading the championship and not the car”. No, he never said that. And as for the car not being fast or competitive, its true that in dry conditions the car still lacks pace. What’s wrong in saying that? The whole of Scuderia Ferrari team has been saying that all year. I think you need to look at all the facts before you say something about someone. Just an advice. Cheers
@fools
From your perspective,i don’t know if it can be called whining..but in the last race in 2010, petrov was at the recieving end..
too many races in 2007
and now ferrari is not at all a bad car now as compared to start of season, it’s only a li’l bit behind in quali(3-6 n dat is not bad at all) n in race ferrari is absolutely equal to the likes of redbull,mac n lotus if not better n he is not ready to give credit to the team in any way.
In two of the races this year, he blindly blamed stewards after beaching the car himself.
He may be a great driver during races but he is still a whiner and a self boasting driver
C’mon 2007 was a whine year.
And I think this game has gone on long enough. I have seen a few weekends when to me that Ferrari is the best car and I have said so. Alonso credits himself at the expense of the team esp the engineers. He gives the impression that it’s him and him all through and never the car. He shd be unselfish enough to say, “the team has done a very good job to give me a competitive car, and I am where I am because of them”.
My wishes for Spa is a Schumacher win. Let Alonso come 2nd.
I don’t understand why some folks say Alonso use to whine alot. Where and when ?
Ive always respected Alonso for the reason that he NEVER whines. I have been a fan of his since he came onto F-1.
I’m sure realistically drivers complain which may intend to sound like whining. However, IMO whining is like a kid who didnt get candy because he didn’t finish his veggies for dinner. That is whining.
So tell me how and when was Alonso ever whining? Do you have a YouTube clip or something of this?
Wow, what nice words about Schumi from Alonso. Schumi will always remain as the greatest in my opinion, as he was my childhood hero and I’ll never forget all those great moments I had when he was at his peak and raced for Ferrari. It’s interesting, that I actually used to hate Alonso when he was in Renault, but now my respect for him has grown year by year. As I’m a Ferrari fan then one of the reason is of course that he’s now driving for Ferrari, but it’s certainly not the only reason. Alonso has really matured A LOT compared to his days at Renault and Mclaren. He has become a real Great Champion in every way…in his driving skills and in the way he behaves. He’s not that whiny obnoxious kid anymore, that he used to be when he was at Renault. He’s a real Champion now and without a doubt the best driver on the grid right now, and I’m so glad that he drives for Ferrari.
Go Fernando & Go Ferrari!!!