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I’m on my way to Abu Dhabi, where I will arrive this evening ahead of the penultimate round of this long season. We’ve now come to the end of the championship: there’s still second place in the drivers’ standings to play for but, to be honest, I would we much happier if we could add another win to the one we took at Silverstone in July. Talking to the guys in the team I can see they would really love to give me the chance to come second in the championship. I’m delighted it’s like that because I know they feel it would be some kind of recognition for the efforts that have been put in by everyone during the season. But you know how we drivers are made: we always want to come first and the other positions are less important.
I completely appreciate that winning will be very difficult. In this closing part of the season the relative positions are very clear but we have also seen there are some conditions in which we can fight for victory: as happened in Suzuka, for example. We know if we all get everything right we can fight for the top three but our natural qualifying position is on the third row. Then in the race things can go differently but that is the realistic situation. So our target is the podium. Apart from anything else that result would allow me to fill a gap in my trophy cabinet as Abu Dhabi is the only race on the calendar from which I have yet to bring home silverware.
I’m sure that the most frequent question in tomorrow’s press briefings will be about my return to the Yas Marina circuit after last year’s race. It would not be honest if I told you I won’t be a bit uncomfortable thinking about it tomorrow morning when I see the paddock for the first time. But then the feeling will vanish and it will leave room for the present, which is about aiming to do well this weekend and in the future: to learn as much as possible with next season in mind. It’s right that it should be like that because in sport, as in the rest of life, you must always look ahead. Abu Dhabi 2010 was an important stage in my career and I have no doubt that even through that bad day, my relationship with Ferrari has become even stronger.
Source: Ferrari.com
Lewis Hamilton has likened McLaren's 2011 campaign to a "massive emotional rollercoaster" where some times they've been up there and at others a "million away"
Although McLaren have claimed three victories to date this season, the most of any team other than Red Bull, it has not been a solid campaign from the Woking outfit.
While at some grands prix they have fought at the front, at others they have found themselves a full second or even more behind their main rivals.
This month alone, Hamilton at first had no answer to Ferrari and Red Bull's pace in Britain but then went on to take a fantastic victory in Germany where he had the measure of his rivals.
"We have had a challenging couple of months, up and down, kind of nearly there, kind of not, then a million away, then the win," Hamilton acknowledged.
"It's been a massive emotional rollercoaster for all of us. It has played on my emotions and that of the team, so when we do have the wins as in Germany then it's just that much better.
"If you were doing it all the time, then I don't know if you could have the same feelings, so it makes it all the more worthwhile, and clearly we want to continue like this.
"But there are things I know we need to go and work on, and there are things the guys know they need to work on. We just need to keep applying the pressure because the Championship is still alive.
"I really hope the win spurs them on because we're only just over halfway. There's still a long way to go."
But with little indication of what is to come next from their MP4-26, the only definitive is that the car seems to prefer cooler conditions. And that's exactly what Hamilton is hoping for this weekend in Hungary.
"If you look at Hungary last year the Red Bull was light years ahead of everyone," said the 2008 World Champ.
"If you look at Valencia this year, Red Bull and Ferrari were massively quick in the hot conditions, and I expect them to be the same again this weekend.
"Naturally we will try to improve, but I do think we will have to wait until next year before our car is maybe as good as theirs. We'll see.
"Maybe we'll turn up there and be quick, maybe we'll have cooler conditions and it will be perfect for us."
With nine races remaining this season, Hamilton is third in the Drivers' Championship, 82 points behind Championship leader Sebastian Vettel. Source: Planet-F1
Only the most fanatic Ferrari-fans believe that Fernando Alonso still could reach Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel in this years WDC-battle in F1.
Vettel leads Alonso with 92 points (204-112). The Spanish driver should therefore reach the German by approximately 9,2 points per GP during the last 10 GP-weekends.
There's only one in the history who has achieved in doing that, it required Niki Lauda's extremely serious injury in the 10th GP in 1976 at Nürburgring. Lauda was then leading McLaren's James Hunt by 35 points (61-26), which with today's system would mean that Lauda would have been 98 points ahead of Hunt (176-78).
Hunt rose with his 7-races long sting and won the WDC with one point, after Lauda stopped in the last rainy race after two laps. Back then Lauda got only 7 points from the remaining races (27 points with the new system).
After Hunt, Kimi Räikkönen with Ferrari came from most behind in 2007 and became WDC.
Turun Sanomat
HEIKKI KULTA
Facts
Biggest rises to the championship:
1976 James Hunt McLaren from behind 35 points (after 9 races)
2007 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari from behind 26 points (after 7 races)
1964 John Surtees Ferrari from behind 20 points (after 5 races)
1988 Ayrton Senna McLaren from behind18 points (after 4 races)
1982 Keke Rosberg Williams from behind 16 points (after 2 races)
2003 Michael Schumacher Ferrari from behind 16 points (after 3 races)
Courtesy: Nicole
Although Fernando Alonso admits it has been a "very bad season" for Ferrari, he reckons there's still time to turn it around
Ferrari have had a lacklustre start to this year's campaign, failing to win a single grand prix. Their best result to date was Alonso's second placed finish at the Monaco GP.
As a result, the Italian stable is trailing Red Bull Racing by 154 points, prompting talk that they could switch their focus to 2012 if things do not improve in the next two races.
And Alonso concedes, it has been a "very bad" start to the Championship.
"When you are in Ferrari, this is the pressure, you need to win every race and every Championship," he said.
"So it seems it has been a very bad season so far because we are Ferrari.
"At the moment, it's difficult to win a race.
"There is no doubt that in Monaco and Canada we had the opportunity to win the race. That is fact, it's not a dream. We were very close, we were 10cm from winning in Monaco.
"The last two races the trend is quite good and we have improved and seem to be competitive.
"The characteristics of the circuit in Valencia are similar to Monaco and Canada so maybe here we will again be competitive.
"But we must not forget that we are sometimes one second behind (Red Bull) in qualifying and with this it's difficult to win."
However, the Spaniard is refusing to give up just yet, confident that Ferrari still have time to turn their season around.
"We need to have the best car and then we can win the title," he said.
"There is plenty of time and plenty of races to recover. If we are fifth or sixth as we are normally in qualifying it is very difficult.
"But the Championship is long. We need to concentrate race-by-race and to be on the podium in every race - this is our aim, this is our goal.
"We need to respect our opponents and to understand that in some places and in some races we cannot do that." Source: Planet-F1
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso says he is confident he can fight for the world drivers' championship despite a disappointing start to the 2011 season 
He was fourth in the opening race in Australia two weeks ago, when he was a long way off the pace-setting Red Bull.
"We think we can do good things with this car. We saw in Australia it was not enough to fight for victory. We need to work," the Spaniard said.
"But at the moment the championship is very long and we remain comfortable."
The 29-year-old had a frustrating time in Friday practice at the Malaysian Grand Prix, ending the day ninth fastest, nearly two seconds off pace-setter Mark Webber of Red Bull, and he admitted afterwards he was expecting a "difficult weekend".
But he told BBC Sport he was confident he would be in the title fight as the season develops.
"I think so, that's our aim and our target," Alonso added.
"In Australia we were not as quick as we expected - but there are 18 races ahead of us.
"We are Ferrari. People expect a lot of us, it's good motivation but also extra pressure.
"When you do third or fourth it seems a disaster but I don't agree too much.
"It is not a bad result after what we saw in Australia. We need to be calm and do our job - we are strong enough to fight for the championship.
"Our competitors are strong - we respect them a lot - fighting with McLaren and Red Bull is not easy at all but that is also a nice challenge for everyone here."
Alonso said that while Ferrari's lack of pace in Melbourne had caught them by surprise, he was reserving judgment on whether it was an anomaly or the start of a trend.
"We were expecting a better result [in Australia]," he stated.
"We were hoping to fight for pole position and victory but we were not anywhere near to fight with Red Bull.
"We were a little bit surprised by our pace in Australia we have to confirm this in the next two or three races, if we really are that behind.
"In winter testing we were much closer to Red Bull so hopefully Australia was one strange race.
"But at the moment we don't fear anyone, we respect everyone but we think that if we do things right and if we do 100% we can be there.
"If we make a mistake we know how strong our competitors are. At the moment Red Bull are dominant as they were in 2010 - Red Bull are still the main challenge."
Alonso came close to winning the title in 2010, only to miss out at the final race when the team made a mistake in calling him in for an early pit stop, leaving him stranded down the field and at the mercy of Vettel.
When asked how he reflected on that disappointment, he replied: "I didn't give it too much time to be honest.
"It was a disappointing race for us in Abu Dhabi, it was very sad, we were close to the title but once the race was finished it's time to think about the next challenge and that was the 2011 championship."
And the Ferrari driver refused to blame the strategy call for missing out on the title.
"No, it was not one incident it was the whole weekend was not good enough and we did not have the pace to be as quick as Red Bull or to fight for victory," he commented.
"McLaren were quicker than us, the start was not quick enough, there was a safety car.
"There were many factors that surprised us but also I think that Abu Dhabi was the last race of 19 but we didn't lose the championship in Abu Dhabi we lost it also in Silverstone when we didn't score any points, it was a little bit of everything.
"We have reinforced some areas of the team where we discovered we were weak compared to our competitors - trackside we had to make some improvements and strategy wise we were also down.
"The team is stronger this year - if it is enough to win titles we will see in November but I feel much happier and confident than last year."
Source: BBC Sport
Fernando Alonso is convinced he faces another nail-biting fight for the Formula One World title this season
Alonso was pipped at the death last year by Sebastian Vettel, with the Spaniard denied a third world crown by a bungled call from his Ferrari team in the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
That mistake, viewed from the pitwall by Ferraro president Luca di Montezemolo who believed the title was his team's for the taking, sparked a pointed message from the 63-year-old earlier this year.
On the day Ferrari's new car was unveiled, di Montezemolo said: "This car was created with a very simple aim, and it is so simple I don't want to say it - we just have to achieve it."
As far as di Montezemolo is concerned, nothing less than the world title will do this year, ensuring the pressure is on Alonso, Felipe Massa and the rest of the team.
Alonso, speaking ahead of this Sunday's season-opening grand prix in Australia, said: "If you race for Ferrari there is no other goal than fighting for the World Championship.
"That is the history of Ferrari, the power of Ferrari. This team and its history is about passion, motor racing and about winning.
"That is our aim, that is our goal for the 2011 campaign, trying to fight for the World Championship.
"At the end you can win, you can lose. It depends how competitive you are. It depends on many other factors as well.
"But we need to be there, and I am sure we will be until the last moment."
For now, Alonso simply intends to be firmly in the hunt throughout the opening few races in order to build a solid platform on which to build the remainder of his season.
"Right now it's impossible to determine the order or say who is competitive and who isn't before race one," said Alonso.
"On paper there are five, six teams capable of winning races and to fight for the championship.
"After three or four races you see maybe only two or three can really fight for the Championship.
"The important thing for each team, and for us especially, is to do well and be competitive in these first three races, to be in that smaller group of two or three teams.
"But at the moment everything is very open." Source: Planet-F1
