Alonso: Nothing to say about Seb

Fernando Alonso has refused to slam Sebastian Vettel after their on-track tussle damaged his F2012 in Sunday's Italian GP

Fighting over fourth place around the Monza circuit, Alonso was stuck behind Vettel despite appearing to have the faster car.

The Spaniard tried several times to look up the inside or around the outside before finally opting for the latter at the Curva Grande.

But instead of taking fourth, Alonso got a face full of dirt as Vettel pushed him wide and off the track.

Telling his Ferrari mechanics that "that's enough," Alonso overtook Vettel two laps later at the same spot while Vettel was then called into the pits for a drive-through penalty.

Asked about the incident, Alonso said: "Nothing really to say."

"I lost 10 laps behind him, after the incident, and for sure the car is damaged because at 330km/h you are jumping on the gravel so I don't think the floor and everything will be fine after those jumps."

Alonso, who had started tenth after car troubles in Saturday's qualifying, went on to finish in third place having been overtaken by Sergio Perez in the final ten laps.

"It was a difficult race starting from 10th but we knew we had possibly the quickest car this weekend," said the Spaniard.

"We had the pace to recover the position so it was a good result for us."

Alonso's 15 points mean he now holds a 37-point advantage over Lewis Hamilton with seven races remaining.

Source: Planet-F1

Hamilton confident of stronger 2012

Lewis Hamilton hopes to take the fight to Red Bull during the 2012 F1 season

Lewis Hamilton says he is confident of a stronger showing from his McLaren team during the 2012 F1 season as the Briton looks to take the fight to Red Bull and defending champion Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton endured a difficult 2011 campaign as, despite three victories, he was unable to challenge for the championship crown and suffered a series of set-backs both on and off track over the course of the campaign.

Having suffered a raft of problems with the MP4-26 prior to the start of 2011, McLaren will now hope there is no repeat when the new MP4-27 hits the track for the first time in pre-season testing next month – with Hamilton confident it can be the car to take the fight to Red Bull.

"It will be up to us to be able to surpass it [the new Red Bull]," he told Gazzetta dello Sport "From what I've seen, however, the new McLaren seems a lot better than last year's.

"Basically, the Red Bull is an evolution of the aerodynamic concepts introduced in 2009. Midway through 2011 it was phenomenal, it was at the highest level and on top of that it almost never broke down. By contrast, when we had the same reliability, we lacked the same performance."

Hamilton added that he was keen to try and hit the ground running when the new season gets underway in Melbourne to ensure that he doesn't find himself playing catch-up in the title race.

"During the winter you always dream of arriving at the start of the season with a car that goes quick immediately," he said. "This hasn't happened in the last two seasons. I want it to happen this year. If we start well, we'll stay at the top more easily."

Source: Crash.net

Button laments McLaren's understeer

Jenson Button said a lack of front-end grip prevented him from taking the fight to Mark Weber and Lewis Hamilton after finishing fourth at the Korean Grand Prix.

A bad first lap dropped Button down the order, but he fought back to get on the tail of Webber's Red Bull towards the end, which was harassing Hamilton for second place. However, following the tight final sector, Button struggled to get within a second of Webber at the DRS activation point, which in turn meant he was not allowed to use his rear wing flap to gain a straight-line speed advantage into turn three - his only realistic chance of making a move stick.

"Towards the end of the stints the pace was OK, but I just couldn't get close enough in the last sector," Button told the BBC. "Whether I didn't have enough front-end in the car or what … but I put a lot of front-end in the car during the stops, and still I had so much understeer in the last sector. That meant I couldn't get close enough to them to use DRS and I think I used it once in the whole race."

He added: "It's not a great result but it's better than last year, I struggled here a lot last year. It's not one of my better circuits, but I didn't have any more really so fourth was it. I couldn't get close enough to use DRS, so that was it. But we'll go back and look at the data and look at the reasons for it."

Button said he was caught by surprise when Felipe Massa launched his Ferrari past him at turn three on the opening lap, which dropped him from third to sixth.

"The start itself was alright and then I thought Mark was behind me down into turn three, I don't know where Massa was … I braked where I felt it was correct, and it felt correct, but then I turned in and there was a car there," Button said. "I couldn't see him at all before I actually turned in, and then I was stuck on the outside and lost a lot of places. I don't think it would have changed my race, even if I didn't have a bad first lap because I just wasn't quick enough today."

Source: ESPNF1

Button: Two team fight for the win

Jenson Button reckons Sunday's Korean GP will be a battle between McLaren and Red Bull for the race victory

The two teams occupy the front two rows of the grid with Lewis Hamilton on pole ahead of Sebastian Vettel, Button and Mark Webber.

Button was booted off the front row, which would have been McLaren's first lock-out of the season, by 0.084s.

"As a team and in terms of the car, I think we are in a great place right now," Button told Autosport.

"I really don't know how the race is going to go tomorrow but you would think it would be between us and the Red Bulls. I don't think Ferrari is that far behind in terms of consistency over one lap they don't have the pace in race consistency.

"It is a great way to end the season, as a team we are obviously disappointed we could not get this performance earlier in the year, but it can only be good for next year.

"Obviously there are rule changes but having a good base for this year going into 2012 is something we really need."

As for the key to success in Sunday's grand prix, Button summed it up rather well: "Being quick! That is something we have been good at in the last few races in terms of consistency."

However, the McLaren driver does admit that tyres will be crucial factor in Sunday's 55-lap race as many are expecting a high-wear rate with the Pirellis.

"We know the tyres have a short life here and if you can make any difference by looking after them is a little bit unknown tomorrow. We will see, but I think everyone is looking forward to tomorrow, it should be a lot of fun.

"We are finding our feet on high fuel, seeing how it feels and acts.

"Today was a reasonably good day for me, obviously thought we could fight for first but Lewis was too quick today but all in all a pretty good day and looks good for tomorrow."

Source: Planet-F1

Hamilton: No doubt we can fight Red Bull

Having topped the timesheets by some way on Friday, Lewis Hamilton says he has "no doubts" that McLaren can challenge Red Bull in Korea

McLaren showed a far superior pace in Friday's second practice to their rivals with Hamilton clocking a 1:50.828 around the 5.615km Yeongam circuit in wet conditions.

His nearest rival was his own team-mate Jenson Button, who was 0.108s slower, while the next in line was Sebastian Vettel. The Red Bull driver, though, was 1.818s behind Hamilton.

And although the Brit concedes that Friday's times, especially as they were set in the wet when the rest of the weekend is expected to be dry, count for very little, he does believe McLaren will put in a strong challenge this weekend.

"I think we are quick, the car feels good and Jenson showed in the last race that we can be competitive," said Hamilton.

"I have no doubts that we can challenge Red Bull but whether or not we can out-qualify them, which hasn't been done all year, will be interesting.

"It's early days and it was miserable today and irrelevant in terms of set-up. Tomorrow we'll get a better feel for where the car is."

However, his team-mate Button revealed McLaren's times may have been down to the fact that at no stage did the team run race-simulation fuel loads.

"It's so, so difficult out there today," he told the BBC. "We were hoping the track would dry out but it didn't and there was no grip.

"We didn't do any high-fuel running, which we normally do, and I haven't got a clue what the car is going to be like in the dry.

"It would be nice to have the same gap to the cars behind. P3 will be an important session. It would nice to knock Red Bull off pole, we'll give it a go."

Source: Planet-F1

Alonso: Ferrari won't give up

The Championships may be done and dusted for Ferrari, however, Fernando Alonso insists that won't stop them fighting in the remaining four races

Last Sunday, Sebastian Vettel secured the Drivers' title, leaving Alonso, Jenson Button, Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton to battle over second place.

And although Red Bull have yet to wrap up the Constructors' crown, it does appear more of a formality as they have a 130 point lead over second-placed McLaren with only 172 points still to play for. Ferrari, who are third, are a further 96 points off the pace.

"We will be trying to win at least one more race," Alonso said during Thursday's press conference ahead of the Korean GP.

"We know Red Bull are still favourites and McLaren are very strong at this point of the season, but we will be trying to enjoy our racing.

"My Championship position is less important, because it does not make much difference if you are second or third if you cannot be Champion.

"The Constructors' Championship is more important and McLaren is a long way ahead, but we will do the maximum to catch them for second place, even if it will be difficult."

He added: "We are racing drivers and we want to win in every race in which we take part. If I do a kart race in December for fun and finish second, it gives me a very bad feeling.

"Now, we have four different races in four different countries, racing for the team, the sponsors, the fans and ourselves, so it is impossible not to be motivated."

The Spaniard, who finished second at the previous race in Japan by just over a second to Button, reckons Ferrari can achieve another strong showing this weekend.

"I hope to enjoy this as much as we did in Suzuka, where we could be aggressive and play with the strategy. Here a podium should be possible and if we get the maximum out of the car and everything is good, we can try and win it.

"We think we know what was our problem in Singapore and also understand why we were better in Suzuka, but obviously I won't tell you that now. This season it is more and more difficult to understand F1!"

Source: Planet-F1

Alonso: I was a bit harder on Vettel

Fernando Alonso admits he defended harder than he usually would against Sebastian Vettel as he has "nothing to lose" in his fight with the German

Alonso took the lead of the Italian GP at the start, storming up from fourth place. However, Vettel, who had started on pole, fought back almost immediately but the battle was cut short when the Safety Car was deployed after a first corner crash.

When the race resumed after lap three, Alonso did all he could to hold onto the lead as Vettel stuck to his rear wing.

The reigning World Champ eventually pulled off a brave move that saw him put two wheels on the grass at the Curva Grande.

Vettel went on to win the Italian GP while Alonso finished in third place.

"We have nothing to lose in the battles with Sebastian," said the Spaniard.

"He is leading the Championship by 100 points so when we have to defend we will be a little bit harder with him."

The double World Champ, who was also overtaken by Jenson Button, admitted he was also "a little bit lucky" to finish on the podium thanks to Michael Schumacher holding up Lewis Hamilton for the better part of 28 laps.

But when the McLaren driver was finally released he set about closing the gap to the Spaniard, who succeeding in holding onto third place by just over half a second.

"It was close, I think one or two more laps and probably we'd lose the podium. We were a little bit lucky with Michael and his battles because Lewis lost 20-30 seconds in the first laps, so we managed that gap."

Source: Planet-F1

Alonso: We've nothing to lose

Fernando Alonso has once again urged Ferrari to take risks in the final stint of this year's World Championship

The Spaniard, who was fighting for the World title up until the final lap of last season's finale, currently finds himself down in fourth place in the Drivers' Championship, 89 points behind reigning World Champ Sebastian Vettel.

And Alonso reckons the only way Ferrari have any chance of beating the Red Bull driver to this year's crown is to go all out.

"We didn't program anything to be conservative at the beginning, or more aggressive now," said Alonso.

"It's just that the way things have worked out in the last couple of races, we've been lucky with strategies and they've worked out okay.

"With this year's tyres and the degradation, you need a bit of luck with strategy because tyre behaviour is very unpredictable from lap to lap.

"With 70 to 80 pit stops in general for the whole grid, you catch people when they go into the pits or they're coming out.

"There is nothing we can lose now if we take risks, like in the last race in Hungary where it was wet and dry, so you can take a bit more risk.

"In the past, if you want to fight for the Championship, normally you wait for someone to put on dry tyres when it's wet, or vice versa.

"Now we can be the first because we've nothing to lose."

But, however, Ferrari play it in the final eight races, Alonso admits his chances of success rest on him claiming maximum points at as many races as possible.

"Until the maths say otherwise, and if there is a possibility, then we will fight," said Alonso.

"We've seen many times in Formula One strange things happen, and in two, three races with the new points system, anything could happen.

"So we will not give up at this point. We will try to win every race.

"With four or five races to go, if there is still a possibility we will try and go for it.

"At that stage, if it is not possible, then it will be time to give up, but not now with the amount of points still on the table."

Source: Planet-F1

Mark Webber: All to play for in F1 title race

As F1 returns from its summer holidays, Mark Webber is ready for a fight: the racing is going to be tight, he says, and the Drivers’ Championship is still up for grabs

by Matt Youson, Aug 26, 2011

While most drivers spent their free time chilling at the beach, Mark Webber spent his on a bike racing four times F1 World Champion and semi-professional cyclist Alain Prost up the fearsome Alpe D’Huez.

It’s proof, if it were needed, that Webber is a competitor to the core, and despite being in second place, 85 points behind team-mate and championship leader Sebastian Vettel, he believes there is still plenty of racing ahead before the season is done. Here’s what he has to say…

Mark, what’s going to happen this weekend?
MW: It’s always great to come here: the drivers love Spa – because thankfully it hasn’t been designed in the last 10 years. So, it’s got some real corners and a beautiful, undulating layout. You feel pretty remote out there in the forest, just you and the car.

I see the weekend being tight, to be honest. I see Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull with no clear advantage. I think it’ll be like the last three or four grands prix – very, very tight, nip and tuck around the pitstops. It’s going to be tight between all of the teams.

This hasn’t been a good track for Red Bull Racing…
MW: In the last couple of years there’s a few places where we have been very strong, like Budapest and Silverstone, Barcelona too, whereas this year you’ve had Seb practically pushed over the line in Barcelona by Lewis. So the tracks have tightened up in terms of us having an advantage at what we’d call our better tracks – but let’s see what happens on the tracks that have been a little bit difficult for us, like this one here and obviously Monza. Canada [where Red Bull have also struggled previously] wasn’t too bad this year. So we’ll see how we go here. It is in our minds a bit but not full-on.

you think it’s possible for a driver to dominate the end of the season like Seb did at the start?
MW: No. I think that’s over. To have five, six, seven victories on the bounce, that’s not going to happen. I think it’ll be more spread out. The same people though, and I’d love to get involved myself.

So, does is the [Drivers’] Championship is over?
MW: No. Not if Seb fails to finish in two races. Seb’s in a great position, no question about it, but it’s not completely comfortable for him yet.

It has seemed in recent races that the RB7 has been struggling with its tyres. Has something changed?
MW: It’s a big question and it is a challenge. We had a strange month with those cooler temperatures. Silverstone was very cold, Germany, Hungary… it was a bizarre little month. We saw Valencia be normal, and McLaren in the shit on Sunday, but the other races they’ve been very, very, very strong – so clearly there’s a lot to understand.

We knew from winter testing that [temperature and tyres] was going to be a big part of the racing, but now it’s really getting down to a fine line, and a fine part of how you manage to pull everything together.

We do everything we can to understand it and develop to suit it. We’ve had a successful recipe for the last few years where Adrian [Newey] sometimes isn’t even looking at the results. He’s still just looking at performance and how can we make it better irrespective of guys closing in on us.

Source: Red Bull

LEWIS HAMILTON’S REVVING ’N’ READY

Lewis Hamilton's craving for a second Formula One world title has filled him with fighting talk

And he can’t wait to quit his holiday and start racing again.

The four-week break couldn’t have come at a worse time for 2008 champion Hammy.

McLaren have enjoyed back-to-back wins via Hamilton and Jenson Button.

The next round is in Belgium on August 28 and Hamilton said: “I am 88 points behind but it is not an impossible task.

“It’s a shame we didn’t have another race straight away but there’s nothing we could do about that. There are 200 points up for grabs and I will enter all the races believing I can win them.

“It is going to be an exciting run-down to the last race in Brazil and I can’t wait for the next round in Belgium.

“Our car’s pace is there right now as we have shown with our wins, mine in Germany with the fastest lap and Jenson’s in Hungary.

“The car’s on song because of our excellent qualifying pace at both.”

Source: Daily Star

Vettel: Bulls won't suffer more than others

Sebastian Vettel is expecting a tight fight for Sunday's European GP victory after Friday's practice saw the top seven separated by just over half a second

Vettel finished Friday's second session in third place with a 1:38.265, just 0.297s down on pace-setter Fernando Alonso.

However, it was a marked improvement on his pace from Practice One when the German, reportedly running without the off-throttle exhaust in preparation for its upcoming ban, was over 2.5s behind team-mate Mark Webber.

That, though, is not the only ban facing the teams as from this weekend's European GP onwards they are no longer permitted to change their engine mapping after qualifying and before the grand prix.

This new ban is expected to hit Red Bull hard as the team are believed to run extreme engine mapping in qualifying before lowering it to safer levels ahead of the grand prix.

"To be honest I can understand that this is news to everyone, and everyone wants to get some information," Vettel told journalists in Valencia on Friday afternoon.

"I can only say that it will affect everyone, when the rules change, but I don't see us suffering more than other people, to be honest.

"Maybe we will be surprised, maybe not. What I can judge now I think we have nothing to be afraid of."

As for his run on Friday morning, reportedly without the off-throttle exhaust, Vettel refused to confirm the reports but did concede to the fact that his programme was "different" to what his rivals were doing.

"Sometimes you try different things. If you're not in the top five or the top 10, clearly you're running a different programme from the others, so that was this morning.

"In the afternoon we were more or less on the same pages as the rest. As you've seen, it's very tight. I had a good feeling, to be honest, it was much better than in the morning.

"It is a Friday, and it's always difficult to see what other people do. The important thing is we are there or thereabouts. It is tight here.

"Last year obviously we had a very good race, but there were a couple of people, Lewis and Fernando in particular, who were very close to us. The race unfolded a bit differently so we had a nice time at the front.

"It changes circuit by circuit. You can't really say that's team A, team B, team C. Sometimes the gaps are bigger, sometimes they are much closer.

"I give you the perfect example - we go to Australia, we are quite a bit quicker than the rest, we come to Malaysia, and we really had to push hard to qualify on pole. That's two weeks, nothing was changed on the cars, it was just a different track.

"That's how it goes. That's why here as we expected it will be very tight."

Source: Planet-F1

Video: BBC - European GP - McLaren in the fight for pole - Lewis Hamilton

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton admits the prime tyres proved difficult to "switch on" but feels he is close to matching the top pace of Ferrari and Red Bull at the European Grand Prix



Source: YouTube

Massa's Blog: I hope I continue to fight at a higher level

A couple of days have passed since the Chinese Grand Prix and I am still in Shanghai attending various events in a city which I find I enjoy more every time I come here. I had a very good race on Sunday, running strongly and getting involved in a lot of fights. The result should have been a bit better than my eventual sixth place, but I was very happy with how it went and I hope I can continue to fight at a higher level for the coming races.

For sure, we need to qualify better so we can start further forward on the grid which helps in the race, even with the talk of grid position being less important this year. In China actually my grid position, sixth, was not too bad and then I gained one place immediately after the start which moved me up to fifth. Most importantly though, if you look at the pace of the car, it was good enough to allow us to fight with the leaders. That meant I had a very interesting race, being able to make up several places because effectively, the car we had in the race was completely different to the one we had the day before in qualifying. It definitely worked well, because I even led the race for a short while at one point and I held a genuine second place for quite some time. Unfortunately, those who were three stopping for tyre changes caught us up much faster than we had expected in the closing stages and, on tyres that were in much better shape than mine, they were able to get past.

It’s easy to say, having seen how the race evolved, that I should have been on a three stop rather than a two stop strategy, but in fact, I am not completely sure this would have been correct, because the main problem I had was much poorer performance than the other cars experienced on the hard Pirellis, which meant that, when these tyres were fitted, the car had a pace more similar to what we had seen in qualifying and we definitely had more problems than the others. Up until then, the car was quite competitive. People have pointed out that Webber drove a fantastic race, which involved three pit stops, but you have to accept that, because he failed to get further than Q1 on Saturday, he had plenty of new tyres: everyone would want to be in that position, but you must remember he has a very good car, the quickest of the year so far. Nevertheless, we are always learning at this stage of the season and we should analyse everything very carefully to see if we should adopt a different approach, maybe modify our qualifying strategy to have some fresher tyres for the race. But after three Grands Prix it is still too early to say what is the best way to work with all these new rules, because in China at the weekend, you saw many different combinations of strategies and tyre useage and many of them seemed to work well. Nothing is one hundred percent clear yet and at Ferrari, we have to work out what is best for our car. It is possible that we could see very different strategies in the next few races, depending on the characteristics of the circuits.

In Shanghai, it was good for the sport of Formula 1 that Lewis won the race, so we don’t have the same car winning every time. However, we must not forget that Sebastian still finished second which is a very good result, which still keeps him in a good position for the championship. We have three weeks now during which everyone at Ferrari has to push hard to try and arrive at the next race, or more specifically the next qualifying, in a stronger position, so we can continue to take the fight to these guys. After Shanghai, we must also consider Mercedes as being part of the fight for the top places. They definitely have a quicker car than us for qualifying, but it’s not yet a match for Red Bull. But it is also true that the Red Bulls suffer more than most in a performance drop off from qualifying to the race, so this could see Mercedes continuing to be very competitive now in the races.

I am now preparing to leave Shanghai for home in Monaco. On Monday, I attended an event for a personal sponsor, Richard Mille who manufacture watches and in the evening I was at a dinner for Ferrari owners. Then before flying home, on Tuesday morning I was at the Shanghai Motor Show, making an appearance on the Ferrari stand, doing some press interviews and unveiling the Ferrari FF, the recently launched four wheel drive car, seen for the first time now in China. I am looking forward to this slightly longer than usual break at home before heading for Istanbul and I will be following very carefully the work going on at Maranello during this period.

Source: Ferrari.com

Button: We can fight with the Red Bulls

Jenson Button: It looks like it's going to be a fun scrap tomorrow – we're a lot closer to the Red Bulls than I think many people expected

F1 2009 world champion Jenson Button has predicted it could be a 'fun scrap' tomorrow at the Sepang International Circuit and he is confident McLaren will be able to take the race to the Red Bulls.

Button looked very competitive in qualifying for Sunday's Malaysian GP and topped the times in Q2. However in Q3 he was unable to repeat that feat and in the end finished up on the second row of the grid in fourth, his best lap a 1 minute 35.200 seconds, which left him 0.021 seconds off Mark Webber in third and 0.330 seconds off Sebastian Vettel in pole.

“I just wish Q2 had been Q3, but it wasn't!” Button said. “I had a touch more oversteer in Q3, but that's the set-up direction I chose to take. The balance was pretty good, but I hurt the tyres a little bit too much in the final sector, and that left me in fourth.

“It looks like it's going to be a fun scrap tomorrow though – we're a lot closer to the Red Bulls than I think many people expected, and there's a margin over the guys behind us, so hopefully it will be the four of us playing tomorrow [for the win].

“Our starts weren't great in Melbourne. [But] I hope they'll be better in this race; we have a very good KERS Hybrid system, so hopefully it will help us and we can really attack into Turn One. I'm looking forward to it – the weather has held off for the past two days. And if it's a dry race, we really should be able to take the race to the Red Bulls.”

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh meanwhile has paid tribute to the team for transforming the MP4-26 into a competitive stead after a difficult winter, although he too is praying for it to remain dry.

“Clearly, we're encouraged by our pace here – but there's no magic involved: F1 is all about hard graft, and I want to thank everyone back in Woking for working so hard to achieve the performance improvements that we've seen here today,” Whitmarsh continued.

“We think our race pace tomorrow ought to be good enough for us to mount a very serious challenge for victory, and that's certainly what we'll be aiming for. But it'll be close, no doubt about that.

“Since the race is scheduled to start at 4.00pm, rain is a distinct possibility, because there has been a downpour at that time on quite a few days earlier this week.

“But we hope it doesn't rain because we think we'll be on the pace if the race is a conventional dry one.”

Source: Crash.net

Ferrari can be F1 champions this year - Fernando Alonso

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

Lewis Hamilton sees fight with Fernando Alonso as new 'Senna v Prost'

Sebastian Vettel may be the man most likely to thwart Lewis Hamilton's hopes of a second world championship this season, but as the McLaren driver arrived in the tropical metropolis of Kuala Lumpur it was not the German on his mind but the man he describes as his "nemesis", Fernando Alonso.

"I will always think that my nemesis and my closest rival will always be Fernando," said an unusually reflective Hamilton. "Just because of my history, when I started out. I see him as my Prost, if we were [Alain] Prost and [Aryton] Senna. If you were to say 'choose a driver' [that I would like to be] I would clearly choose Ayrton. And maybe I would put him as Prost.

" The rivalry between Senna and Prost, which is brilliantly captured in the new film, Senna, was one of the most bitter in all sport. The difficult relationship between Hamilton and Alonso in 2007, when the Spaniard was unsettled and ultimately driven from McLaren by Hamilton's rookie brilliance, had its moments, too. Hamilton, probably, has never received proper credit for his performances that season, when he missed the championship by a single point.

But is not Vettel his true nemesis now? "I don't think so. If he continues to have a car like he does now then, maybe, but I think when we get equal pace then we will see some serious racing. Maybe he [Vettel] is the new Mansell? Not that I would rate him like I do Mansell." Ouch.

But with the next race, in Malaysia, almost two weeks away Hamilton is less concerned with racing rivals than his relationship with his family. He is close, once more, with his father and former manager Anthony. And this week he will return to England to see his brother Nicolas, who has cerebral palsy, race for the first time.

"I can't miss my brother's first race [at Brands Hatch next weekend]. It's OK. I can sleep on the flight. I can still stay in this time zone. I'll just head back to see his qualifying and race and then pop back out. It's cool. I'll get to watch lots of movies on the plane.

"Me and my brother are close. I mean, everyone has their situations in life, but it has been tough for him. I can understand what he has been through because I am the closest person to him, but even I cannot comprehend what it must have been like to have the difficulties he has had. And now he gets to have the opportunity to live the dream himself. Me and my dad will be there.

" The relationship between Hamilton and his father has been strained for the past year, since Hamilton decided that he no longer wanted Anthony to manage his affairs. But they have been closer in recent months and were seen together at the Australian Grand Prix. Anthony now manages the latest British FI hope, Paul di Resta.

"This weekend has been great. I don't know whether you saw me and my dad spent a lot of time together. I asked him if he would like to be on the grid with me and he said 'I would love to do that'. It just felt fantastic this weekend.

"I felt the support that my dad gave me – it was the same as he has always given me but without the stress. I said to him 'I know you have to go down the other end of the grid' and he said 'No. Paul understands that I want to be up this end as well.'

"My dad was just there as my dad. He has always given me immense support, but I think it was support mixed with some stress. But this time it was just 'I'm so proud to see you out there' and it was just fantastic. Really, really great. Things are pretty good. Great times and they can only get better.

" Then, suddenly, it was back to racing. "Finally I've got something I can fight with, something I can take the fight to the Bulls with," he said, following McLaren's revival in Melbourne and his second place.

"Malaysia is a massive downforce track so you're going to see Red Bull as quick if not quicker. But I have no doubts our car can be competitive as well.

" Meanwhile, the McLaren team principal, Martin Whitmarsh, said: "We leave here [Melbourne] knowing we had a car capable of taking two places on the podium. It was genuine pace. Both drivers and the team had a difficult winter and it is fantastic to come out of it that strong. We have to dig deep, it's a long championship and we have to improve race by race."

Source: The Guardian

Alonso: McLaren will fight for podiums

Fernando Alonso insists he won't be fooled by McLaren's pre-season woes, saying he expects them to challenge for a podium in Australia

McLaren have had numerous mechanical problems during winter testing and both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have admitted their MP4-26 is not up to scratch with the new season just around the corner. BBC commentator Martin Brundle went as far as calling the car a "mess".

Alonso though believes the McLarens will be fighting for a top-three finish in Melbourne in a fortnight.

"They're better than they look," he told Spanish paper El Pais. "Winter testing doesn't explain anything.

"They say themselves they are expecting a little more, so perhaps they will be at a similar level to the best (in Australia) and then go on ahead.

"When we get there, we'll see. McLaren are not going to be fighting for 10th place, but rather the podium."

Alonso has also dismissed the notion that Hamilton and Button's different driving styles complicated the design of the car.

"I think not because Formula One is dominated by aerodynamics," said Alonso.

"For example, if a wind tunnel predicts a gain of a tenth of a second, that is valid for Alonso, (Felipe) Massa, Hamilton, Button and all the others, regardless of the driving style of each.

"Maybe the tyres are all that matter in terms of having to adapt your way of driving."

Source: Planet-F1

Domenicali: “We have to be very careful”

Brazil will be hosting the two biggest global sporting events, the Olympics and the football World Cup in the next few years, but both these great occasions will have their work cut out matching the excitement generated in recent times by the Brazilian round of the Formula 1 World Championship. 2010 will mark the thirty eighth edition of this race. In the early days of its history it would serve as the season opener, but since 2004 it has more usually brought the curtain down on the year’s racing and as such, has been the scene of some dramatic championship deciders. This year, the scenic and spectacular Interlagos circuit hosts the penultimate round of the season and the battle for the Drivers’ crown could not be closer: Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro’s Spanish driver, Fernando Alonso is ahead on points with 231 to his name, but in fourth place, Sebastian Vettel is just 25 points - equivalent to one race win – behind, with Mark Webber second on 220, ten points more than third placed Lewis Hamilton. In theory, Fernando has a mathematical chance of clinching the title this Sunday, but it would require major misfortune to befall his rivals. “It is unlikely to decide the outcome, but it will be a very important race,” is the opinion of Scuderia Ferrari’s Team Principal Stefano Domenicali. “If one were to lose valuable points here it would make Abu Dhabi a bigger call.”

Within the Maranello team, everyone has heeded Domenicali’s advice following victory in Korea to keep their feet on the ground. “The approach the team will adopt in these final weeks of the championship will be the right one, keeping in mind the strengths of our rivals, Red Bull and McLaren,” says Domenicali. “We have seen how complicated the races have been throughout the season, which means we have to be very careful. As far as the F10 is concerned, there will be a few small updates on the aerodynamic front, but nothing really significant, because the difference will come from reliability, from finishing the races without losing points and having the right mindset. However, I think the F10 can be competitive in Brazil and that, for better or for worse, the relative strengths are those we have seen in the last few races. We can expect to find that Red Bull is again very strong, while McLaren could have some more updates to be quicker still and we will be in the fight.”

The Brazilian “fight” is one that Ferrari has won a total of ten times, including two victories for Felipe Massa in 2006 and 2008. “Brazil is Felipe’s home race and knowing him the way I do, I am sure there will be that little bit extra motivation to do well,” affirms Domenicali. “He will want to show his fans what he can do so I expect him to be very much up for the fight, doing all he can to win. He will be very quick, which is exactly what we need right now to reach our goals.” Felipe himself is really looking forward to racing in front of his fans: “this was the race I missed most last year, when I had to sit out the final part of the season after the accident in Budapest,” says the Paulista. “After sitting it out in 2009, it would be great to get back to winning ways, especially as it would be vital in terms of the fight for both championships.”

Alonso has never won here, but a third place in Interlagos was enough to give the Spaniard his first world championship crown in 2005, while a second place in Brazil the following year saw him retain his title for a second year. “Fernando will tackle the race at Interlagos in the same way he tackled the last few rounds, which means with great determination, keeping in mind that the key is to finish the race and, unless something unpredictable happens, that would mean bringing home a big points haul,” reckons Domenicali. As for our championship contender, Alonso is well aware what an unpredictable race this can be. “We will tackle this round with the same spirit in which we went into the last few races, which means concentrating on our own work, determined to make the most of every opportunity, aware that the totting up will be done in Abu Dhabi after the final race,” says the Spaniard. “The track is very interesting and usually produces a spectacular race. The weather, which can be very changeable, could play an important role and we will have to be ready for any eventuality. With such a short and quick track, the gaps will be reduced and there will be a lot of drivers all within a few tenths.”

Domenicali has witnessed many exciting races during his long career with the Scuderia, so we asked him to pick his best and worst memories of this fascinating event: “I would say my best memory of the Brazilian Grand Prix goes back to the 2007 race. It was the final round and we went into it seventeen points down, so to come out of it with Kimi winning the Drivers’ title and taking the Constructors’ championship with him and Felipe was truly memorable from a sporting point of view. The worst memory would have to be 2008 and what I would describe as ‘Felipe’s final corner.’ As he crossed the line he was world champion and then, unfortunately, after a few seconds the title was just handed to Lewis Hamilton. That was a difficult moment, although the bitterness was eased slightly by the fact we won the Constructors’ title that year. For Felipe and the team, that was a really difficult moment. What was an extraordinary moment in our sport was to see how Felipe reacted a few moments after the end of the race, when he stood on the podium, displaying admirable self control, as did the team, displaying his and the team’s great sense of sportsmanship.”

Source: Ferrari.com

Alonso's Blog: Still five fighting for the title

I’m in Tokyo for a few days of relaxation in the middle of this long trip to the Far East. It’s a city I really like – always new and interesting – and it’s a pleasure to be able to spend a bit of time here. The outcome of the Japanese Grand Prix remains positive, even now in the cold light of day. We are in a phase of the season where one negative weekend can cost us dear and to come away with a good third place from a race that we expected to be difficult was important. We were certainly hoping that perhaps the situation would have been different in Suzuka but we must not forget that it’s a track that seems to have been designed to show off the qualities of the Red Bull. As early as Friday we understood that it would be difficult and, even if we knew what was coming, there remains a bit of regret that we couldn’t fight for the win. But now we must put the weekend behind us and concentrate on the next race, where we know that we must try to raise our level of performance: another 5th place in qualifying would certainly not help us.

In Korea we will have to attack because now we must close the gap to Webber. To lose any more ground would make the situation more complicated. We’ve been working on the new track for a few days on the simulator: the first two sectors are very quick with long straights while the last sector reminds me of the last part of the circuit at Abu Dhabi. The tarmac is wide, which should make it possible to try overtaking moves. I’m always curious to discover a new circuit, both from a personal and professional point of view. From next Wednesday onwards I will try to discover if the simulations have been accurate enough. Then we will have a few more kilometres of running available on Friday compared to usual so we can find the right feeling on the track.

I still think that the fight for the title is open for five drivers. Too many times this year we’ve seen someone come back into the game after they’d seemed out of it – and that could easily happen again. Having said that, perhaps the only one who can afford a bad weekend is Webber: for all the others it would perhaps mean giving up any chance, especially the ones who are a bit behind today. The Korean Grand Prix could therefore start to be decisive for some – and for me it will be important also to be able to count on my team-mate Felipe. I know that he will be really hoping to make up for two negative results and he has all the capacities required to return to the podium. What’s more, it will be very useful to work together to discover all the secrets of the new track so we can prepare our cars in the best way. In a moment like this every detail matters to achieve our goals.

Source: Alonso's Blog - Ferrari.com

Schumacher: Mercedes can fight for F1 title

F1 returnee Michael Schumacher insists Mercedes can fight for the title with the new W01

Michael Schumacher says he is confident that the new Mercedes GP W01 is good enough to fight for the 2010 F1 title.

Schumacher makes his return this season with Mercedes after the team completed a buy-out of Brawn GP, and will be partnered by Nico Rosberg for his first year of racing since retiring from F1 at the end of the 2006 campaign.

While he admits that it is difficult to judge how the field is shaping up after the first two tests of pre-season, Schumacher insisted he was confident that Mercedes has a car to challenge for the title even if he has no experience from last year to work with.

“I am fully convinced that we have a car that is able to fight for the championship,” he told the official F1 website. “Where we are exactly is hard to say. This is especially true for me as I don't have the data from last year's car.”

Schumacher added that he was enjoying the experience of being back behind the wheel of a modern F1 machine and was more than ready for the challenge of the year ahead.

“To drive a car like this again, it was just that great old feeling I know so well,” he said. “Nothing comes close. I love that sensation, I always did. It was just that my batteries were empty at the end of 2006 that I retired. I would not have wanted to go on. Now my batteries are fully loaded again!”

Source: Crash.net