No apology needed from Raikkonen – Alonso

2012 Korean Grand Prix

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Fernando Alonso says he does not require an apology from Kimi Raikkonen following the accident which ended his race at the first corner at Suzuka.

Asked during the press conference ahead of the Korean Grand Prix if Raikkonen should apologies for the collision Alonso said: “No I think in the start in Suzuka was very tight between all of us.

“That’s the problem of starting in the middle of the group. I had Jenson [Button] on the right and Kimi on the left and you cannot disappear in those moments.

“So it was an unlucky situation with the front wing of Kimi and my rear tyre. And after the puncture I could not start the car in the corner.

“So it was a mix of things that were not in our part. But in the last seven, six races when we were in Suzuka and now it’s five races, you know that one or two maybe goes wrong and one or two will go wrong for the others, so we’ll see.”

Aside from his first-lap retirements in Spa and Suzuka Alonso believes his championship effort has gone very well so far: “I think we are pushing from the first test of winter so it’s nothing change in the last five races. We need to keep doing the things we have been doing so far.

“I think it has been nearly a perfect championship for us at the moment with very good strategies, good starts, good approach, good races. Everything that we had in our hands every Sunday we maximise always the points. We had one zero in Spa and one zero in Suzuka by things completely outside of our team. Apart of that we don’t need to change too many things.”

He added Ferrari have brought little in the way of updates for this weekend’s race: “obviously it has been only four days from Suzuka to here”.

Nonetheless he expects to be in contention this weekend: “We will try to set up the car as beat we can for this race. But I remain reasonably confident that we will be competitive.

“We have been more or less competitive in the last, let’s say, eight to ten races. Maybe not the fastest but always in position to fight for podiums, etc… I think here will be not different.”

2012 Korean Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    46 comments on “No apology needed from Raikkonen – Alonso”

    1. “…..Apart of that we don’t need to change too many things.”

      Apart from getting a car what is able to score the points they accumulated this season, instead of them being given to them. I feel sad for Ferrari fan.

      Nothing but talk, I’m scared to imagine what kind of car rolls out of Ferrari factory next season.

      1. Massa managed to come 2nd in his car… Massa for gods sake. I really don’t buy into this notion that they have a bad car. The best – probably not, but they are consistently there or thereabouts.

        1. Yeah, there was clearly pace in the Ferrari at Suzuka. Alonso just got shafted by Raikkonen spinning in qualifying. If it weren’t for that yellow flag – or if the stewards had agreed with him and given Vettel a grid penalty for blocking – then he would have been much closer to Vettel and the outcome of the race would have been entirely different.

          1. Agreed. Could have been quite and exciting race up front. Ah well, That’s F1 for you.

            Anything can happen and it usually does.

      2. @Kimi4WDC

        …instead of them being given to them.

        Methinks Vettel, Raikkonen, Hamilton, and Webber did not give up all these points to Alonso for his amiable personality or stunning good looks.

        This is F1, nothing is gifted except tissue to the losers…

      3. Given to them, how? Alonso has bagged consistent points…what more can you ask for? They have certainly not been given to them and I doubt you will find a driver who has had to push as much for them.

      4. Alonso will win this year and in 2013. in 2014 we will see…if Ferrari has a surprise for domination

    2. Button was nowhere near him by the time he and Kimi made contact.

      1. Yes, but at one point he was.

        1. Button didn’t squeeze Fernando at all but he still ran Kimi straight unto the grass:

          http://indavideo.hu/video/Rajt_2012_Japan_F1

          1. Alonso was looking at Button just like Grosjean was looking at Perez:)

            1. yeah of course, not behind him. tho a racing incident, kimi could of lifted.

              but its nit picking. its racing clash…. the fault as i said at the time before kimi’s spin is the ferrari team for sending fernando out late in Q3. you cant take those risks when fighting for a title. and it could well of lost him it.

              as soon as kimi spun i said ‘ well what a surprise that is’

    3. Good to see Alonso has cooled down, had a look at what happened and now knows it was just one of those things at the start.

      1. @bascb Yes. Although he still has those occaisonal whiny moments when he starts complaining about everything and everyone.

        1. At least he’s not as whiny as any other driver on the grid.

    4. Yes, good strategies, starts, approach, races, but can’t ignore the fact that Ferrari is still unable to catch up with the leaders on one lap. If nothing else, this should be improved.

      And I can’t help but think that the Suzuka start was more on Alonso. However, since being at the Hockenheimring in 2010, this was probably Alonso’s fourth fault in, what, some two-and-a-bit years, when it mattered (thus discounting FPs), so I’m not too worried about that either. (The spin in Spa in 2010, the spin in Melbourne and taking to the run-off in Shanghai this year being the other three.)

      1. Yeah. It was about time he made a mistake.

    5. Obviously Ferrari did not have pace at Suzuka. Massa overtook Kobayashi while Kobayashi stuck behind Torosso as Jenson did. When Massa was overtaking Kobayashi, the gap between him and Vettel was about 8 sec. After then the gap gradually became huge nevertheless Vettel did control pace most laps, Finally the gap was 20 sec. Button’s pace was better than Massa..

      1. Actually, on lap 17, after the first pit stop series and when Massa jumped to second place, and neither Jenson nor Kamui had the pace to even threaten Massa the first round of pit stops. At this point he was 10 seconds behind Vettel, and he finished 20 seconds behind Vettel. If the Ferrari was so bad, than losing 10 seconds in 38 laps over the dominant driver of the weekend on a circuit that suits Red Bull isn’t exactly bad, is it?

        And neither Jenson nor Kamui had the pace to even threaten Massa the first round of pitstops.

        1. I agree, there should be still no problem with the F2012 race pace on tracks with high-speed corners, such as Barcelona, Silverstone, Spa and Suzuka.

          Too bad, Alonso crashed out exactly on these two events and had Maldonado run in a once-in-a-lifetime manner or race-of-his-life form in Barcelona, stripping him from 7 valuable points.

          Massa was able to push when it mattered and then manage the gap, which suggests it had a reasonable car on Sunday, in Suzuka. Of course neither he, nor Vettel pushed each other once they were 1-2, and obviously Vettel would have came out on top, were they 1 sec apart – but it is not the Ferrari pace with Massa, which counts, but the Ferrari pace with Alonso, which is a different matter entirely. Alonso’s skill makes up some of the deficit which the Ferrari lacks in relation to Vettel’s Red Bull.

          1. In fact, the F2012 is also good in race trim on stop-and-go tracks, such as Monte-Carlo, Montreal, Valencia and Monza as well. I guess then that it is the combination the two characteristics, which it is not very fond of. It still went well on the Hockenheimring though, but lagged behind badly on the Hungaroring and in Singapore.

    6. I was under the impression that it’s not necessary to apologise for something that doesn’t warrent an apology in the first place.

      1. That was my initial reaction too @ajokay, but I guess the fault is with the journalist for asking that question, not with Alonso answering.

        I would have liked Alonso to say that if anything he himself did cut it a bit too close and sorry for ruining his own race and almost that of Kimi since Button was plenty far away at the point kimi had to go off-track, but I am fine with just saying it’s a racing incident.

        1. @bosyber

          the fault is with the journalist for asking that question, not with Alonso answering.

          I disagree. I don’t remember who it was who asked the question, but earlier this week Luca di Montezemolo was saying that Alonso had lost 30 points due to the actions of other drivers, so I think it was worth asking if Alonso blames Raikkonen for the collision in the same way Montezemolo seems to.

          1. Hm, as usual @keithcollantine, you bring up a good point there – I had tried to put that out of my mind as the usual Ferrari stuff (though not up to horse whisperer level), but you are right that it merits asking the question, bringing the 2nd part of my post into action: either Ferrari, or Alonso should have done much better by pointing that out.

      2. @ajokay
        “Asked during the press conference ahead of the Korean Grand Prix if Raikkonen should apologies for the collision”

        And he said “No”. So you are right. Apology not required. I think the press were just fishing for a controversial headline

        Anyways, whoever thinks Ferrari dont have a car as bad as they make it seem, yes you have point. However, they have not managed to obliterate the field in any race this season. Red Bull and Mclaren have managed to do this time and again. Alonso has never ever been in a situation where he was able to drive in cruisy comfort zone. This suggests that the car just isnt as quick as the RBRs and the Maccas.

        Massa had good race pace in Suzuka, but remember, a number of factors contributed to this. First off he had the luxury of a a set of new hards and softs. Couple this with some astute pit wall calls, Massa managed to jumper KK and JB at the stops. With his newer tyres, he maintained a good gap, but his lack of pace to Vettel was very obvious.

        1. Since I want to make a point (of topic in this comment thread), allow me to latch on to the 3rd paragraph @jaymenon10, and couple that with what Kalterborn had said about Kobayashi (part of it on autosport), that he often has better quali than Perez and therefore got less tyre options in the race.
          Clearly, it is high time that the Q3 tyre rules are changed if qualitying just outside it is better than in a spot at the rear end of the 10 of the grid.

          (Though too, it says maybe Sauber should have been more adventurous with their normal strategy; and perhaps if Ferrari always optimised Massa’s race rather than have Massa change to optimise ALonso’s, he’d do much better a lot more often).

    7. Lol…as if he’s gonna get one. Alonso is the one who should appologise to kimi for squeezing him on to the grass.
      The moment Alonso opens his mouth,logic gets thrown out of the window!!
      What did he expect from kimi?? Drive backwards??

      1. @icemankimii did you even bother to read the article before commenting?

      2. Kimi is not impressed by apologies, Kimi is free of emotion. He is the Driving equivelent of Vulcan logic.

        When Chuck Norris gets sad, he looks to a role model that IS Kimi Raikonnen

    8. I saw the headline and was instantly reminded of the Simpsons quote “No need to apologise Apu. It was as much my fault as it was yours.” Apu then goes on to strangle him. I don’t think Kimi cares that much.

      1. No, Kimi doesn’t have much concern for Alonso, or much else for that matter.

    9. the front wing endplates could be sheathed in a rubber which could negate punctures on contact.. Just an idea…

      1. Just one season left for the enormous front wings anyway… they’ll be a lot smaller in 2014.

    10. Still not man enough to admit it was his fault, but at least he’s no longer claiming that it’s Kimi’s fault.

      1. I’m sure he is man enough to ignore the thoughts of some bottom feeding twit behind a screen like yourself.

    11. Alonso´s reaction in Suzuka was normal considering that he realized that the championship was lost. He know´s that this one has gone, because there´s no more gap to manage and in raw pace Ferrari has no chance against Red Bull or even Mclaren (their fight will be with Lotus and sometimes Sauber).
      Unfortunatelly it´s game over for Alonso and Ferrari. Now is time for realize what went wrong (poor development in the 2nd half of the season when compared to rivals) and do what has to be done to achieve their goals next season.
      Three seasons for Alonso in Ferrari and he never had a dominant car, I would be curious to see is performance if he had one.

      1. Vettel 2011 stylee. ;)

        He is in prime form, the most complete driver from the crop since 2010, consistently delivering 110% with minimal amount of mistakes.

        I think only Vettel will be able to match him, but he’s too young right now. I think he’s something like Alonso was around 2005-2007 at the moment.

        My only fear is that the comparative lack of results will mask his performances. Senna really become someone out of this world when he was in the relatively uncompetitive 1992-1993 McLarens and the 1994 Williams. But that’s, those masterful performances, are often overlooked with the exception of maybe Donington Park 1993. Everybody thinks he’s the greatest because of his 3 WDC, 65 poles and his triumph – well, sort of – in the rivalry with another great, Prost. I think he’s the best because of what he showcased towards the end of his career.

    12. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      11th October 2012, 14:19

      I remember schum saying once, not in a press conference of course, but on a TV channel interview, ” $ H 1 … happens” so I think that’s what Alonso could say too. But of course this was the official F1 press conference so you would never hear that from Alonso. Maybe from Kimi :)

    13. “We will try to set up the car as be(a)t we can for this race.” just got this typo to point out

      Ferrari seems rather lackluster to have hopes for this championship. All Alonso is doing is simply not pointing the obvious for understandable reasons though. I do support him by the way, just being realistic.

    14. I just wish that Kimi was also present in the press conference then would have seen his reaction when that fellow asked that question.

      1. that would have been priceless. but maybe he would have just let it go, he didn’t seem too concerned after the race (and rightly so) and I doubt one week would have changed his mind.

      2. A reaction from the Iceman? LOL

    15. Perhaps because it was your fault Alonso?

    16. Fault, Blame, Race Bans, Retrobution, Apology…
      I cant help but feel we have all gone to far with this. Drivers “protest too much” to get focus of their own faults, Pundits lap it up to sell papers, fans pick up the mantle and scream at each other in cyberspace.

      I wonder what Fangio or Clark would think about all this? Probably think us all a right bunch of twits.

      sigh….

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