Fernando Alonso says he is not thinking about the possibility of winning the world championship at the Brazilian Grand Prix for the third time in his career.
The championship leader told the Ferrari website:
Naturally, I?óÔé¼Ôäóve got great memories of this track because it was here that I secured my two titles, in 2005 and 2006. Every time I go to Sao Paolo it?óÔé¼Ôäós a special feeling and the atmosphere is really great.
I don?óÔé¼Ôäót want to think about the chances of history repeating itself for a third time: I know it is theoretically possible, but that does not count for me. We want to tackle this Grand Prix in the same way as all the others, concentrating on ourselves with our feet on the ground, trying to do a good job, without making mistakes and with the aim of beating our rivals.
I have said it before and I say it again: we will do the maths in Abu Dhabi.
Fernando Alonso
Reflecting on his strong results since the German Grand Prix he added:
The statistics from the second part of the season make interesting reading ?óÔé¼ÔÇ£ 133 points from seven races, 90 of them in the last four ?óÔé¼ÔÇ£ and that makes you think it might have been nice if the season had started in Hockenheim.
And yet, for our part, it?óÔé¼Ôäós not as though we changed anything special in the way we went about our work: it?óÔé¼Ôäós just that we manage to string together a series of strong weekends from start to finish, while earlier, sometimes for a variety of reasons, that was not the case. We were lacking consistency in terms of results until this finally came through later.
The car has always been reasonably competitive, with differing levels from circuit to circuit, which was also the case later on. However we have definitely much improved the performance level over these last three months.
Fernando Alonso
Alonso also said he doubts Jenson Button will be able to retain his championship as the McLaren driver is now 42 points behind:
In theory, there are still five of us in the running for the title, but clearly Button is in a trickier situation. There are not many points between us to be honest and we saw how things ended up three years ago, but the fact is that are no less than four drivers ahead of him and it?óÔé¼Ôäós hard to imagine none of them scoring points.
Fernando Alonso
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Adam Smith
29th October 2010, 10:28
“it’s not as though we changed anything special in the way we went about our work”
apart from favouring Alonso…. so were they always favouring him if nothing special has changed?
Icthyes (@icthyes)
29th October 2010, 10:45
It’s always been Ferrari policy to favour the dominant driver, so if anything he’d mean that.
Alonso is being a little selective though: his own driving and Ferrari’s development pace cost them just as much as bad luck in the first half of the season.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
29th October 2010, 11:09
Their development pace really hasn’t been that bad, they’ve usually been the second-quickest car, it’s just that Red Bull’s qualifying dominance skews the picture a bit. Their race pace has usually been decent.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
29th October 2010, 11:50
I meant the first part of the season, where they spent all their time on the F-duct and slipped behind the others.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
29th October 2010, 12:03
But even then their pace really wasn’t that bad – take Canada for example. And the car was clearly quick at Valencia and Silverstone too but as you pointed out with a little bad luck here and some mistakes there a lot of points were thrown away.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
29th October 2010, 15:57
No their actual pace has been pretty good all year, except for Spain and Turkey. But there was a small period in which they looked like they were going to be left behind, only to bounce back with the EBD. But for Canada and Monaco suiting their car they might have gone four races without a decent showing. Though the same could be said for McLaren at Monza and Spa!
But anyway, two bad races and two mistakes (three if you count Malaysia), hence my original point.
Yel
29th October 2010, 10:51
You must have to have some guts to turn your company to favor you.
BasCB (@bascb)
29th October 2010, 11:44
Maybe they did not change much, apart from that very significant part about the drivers being a nr. 1 and a support driver now.
They were not favouring him like that earlier, see Melbourne or later races where Alonso was stuck behind Massa for quite a while.
Oliver Queisser
29th October 2010, 10:51
He hasn’t got great memories of 2003!!
Nixon
29th October 2010, 10:53
What happened in 2003?
synapse
29th October 2010, 11:49
He crashed in the final corner in the 2003 Brazilian race. That brought out the red flags and (eventually) gave Fisico the win. Crazy race :)
RobertG
29th October 2010, 16:55
Alonso was hospitalized
PT
31st October 2010, 18:09
But he also finished 3rd in the 2003 race! It was also the third race of the season, I think, and the race after the Malaysian Grand Prix where he stunned the F1 fraternity with his first pole position ahead of his team-mate Jarno Trulli and the great Michael Schumacher.
I remember it well since that was the moment I became a fan of Alonso. It was also the beginning of Renault’s rise to power in modern F1.
sato113 (@sato113)
29th October 2010, 12:15
after the last few races, i’m starting to like Alonso more and more.
U2
29th October 2010, 13:13
Typical Alonso, always downplaying his chances.. that’s what I like about the man .. doesn’t talk too much, goes about his job very professionally and the results are always there
I think, Alonso will wrap it up at Interlagos
Anyone else think the same?!
Icthyes (@icthyes)
29th October 2010, 15:59
“I am going to win the world championship” – Silverstone
;)
Alonso is just doing the right thing, playing himself down when he’s getting good results and bigging himself up when he’s not. It’s not unique to him, but it’s certainly endearing.
The Limit
29th October 2010, 14:23
Possibly. I can see Red Bull having more than just a say in that though, and everything suggests that they will pose a big threat for the pole position on the Saturday. As we all know, they have dominated this aspect of F1 in 2010.
However I don’t see that bothering Alonso too much. I find it hard to believe that Webber and Vettel will not have another coming together before the season ends. From Red Bulls perspective, that is their ultimate nightmare.
McLaren appear to be struggling. I can’t see them progressing too much in Brazil compared to Korea in terms of car performance. I fear that Button, despite some minor miracle, is out of it. Hamilton needs other drivers to have DNFS to really aid his cause, so it does look good for Fernando. But?
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
29th October 2010, 15:59
Last 5 WC has been decided in Brazil but I want this time to happen in Abu Bhabi on the last lap if possible on the last corner.
RobertG
29th October 2010, 16:49
Just like 2008… xD
Icthyes (@icthyes)
29th October 2010, 21:24
We almost saw it last year with Button and Webber tussling on the last lap. But for a few reliability glitches, it may have made or broken Vettel’s championship.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
30th October 2010, 2:36
@ RobertG
But this time no heart attack!!!!!!
PT
31st October 2010, 18:15
There wuill be a title battle in Abu Dhabi as the Constructors’ Championship is also important for teams. Even if the Drivers’ Championship is settled at Interlagos (though it’s highly unlikely), there will be battle cries at Yas Marina.
BBT
29th October 2010, 19:14
I’ve got a feeling he will win it in Brazil
Regine
30th October 2010, 7:12
AGREEED!! :)
alonso has really imporoved recently.
Regine
30th October 2010, 14:54
Hey, can anyone this question of mine??:D
Does Brazil favour the red bulls, Ferraris or the mclarens more??
And what about Abu Dhabi??
thanks(:
PT
31st October 2010, 18:24
I think the Red Bulls will shine at Interlagos, at least in qualifying, though the long start-finish straight heading into the first corner would be where McLaren will be particularly good at, as Lewis pointed out. This would be crucial for gaining positions.
But Ferrari, especially in these final races, has proven to be well-suited to almost any kind of circuit – from the high speed Monza to the confines of Singapore. At Suzuka, a Red Bull track, Ferrari in the hands of Alonso was the next best car. So the Scuderia should also have good race pace at Interlagos.
At qualifing one could expect Red Bull to be on pole, though nothing can be said about the race outcome.
DaveW
1st November 2010, 21:22
It’s a mixed-character track, so I like Ferrari here. McLaren will be a rocket from Juncao to the esses, but heaps and heaps of “upgrades” have not solved their low-speed traction and dynamic downforce problems. The bumpy, slow infield is their nightmare. RBR will be brilliant in S3 but will have to trim lots of wing to keep some defense against McLaren and Ferrari up the hill for the opening laps. That will help even things out.
PT
2nd November 2010, 5:41
DaveW
Thanks for the crisp yet detailed and insightful analysis.
Žygis
31st October 2010, 18:41
Ferrari has Massa who fought with this team for the championship in Brazil in the past couple years, so why would majority in Brazil be tempted to favour Red Bulls or McLarens?
And Abu Dhabi has that recently-opened huge Ferrari complex. Go figure. :)
PT
3rd November 2010, 19:46
Phew! I think that’s the record for the longest comment on F1Fanatic!
Marge V,
I’m not rushing into any conclusions but to strengthen your case there must be others in the paddock or the team who can confess this. I know you won’t get anyone from McLaren to confess, but if all this is true why hasn’t Alonso talked more about it and brought the case to the FIA’s attention after he left McLaren?
Anyway, who was Alonso’s race engineer then?