Controversial win is still a win for Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso insists “all wins are special” despite winning the German Grand Prix under scandalous circumstances.
Ferrari were fined $100,000 for implementing team orders and face further sanctions from the World Motor Sport Council when they told Felipe Massa in a coded radio message to let Alonso through last weekend.
Alonso hasn’t tasted success since winning the first race of the season in Bahrain, and Sunday’s win put him right back in the drivers’ world championship as he trails leader Lewis Hamilton of McLaren by 34 points.
The two-time world champion admits he wasn’t thinking about what had happened and fully praised the work of his Ferrari team.
“Winning is a great feeling and that was the case in Hockenheim, especially when I think of the huge workload undertaken by everyone at Maranello to achieve this fantastic one-two finish,” he wrote on Ferrari’s official website.
“No-one ever gave up and I know how pleased they were to see two Ferraris cross the line ahead of all our rivals. For over a month now we have been saying that we had to get back to winning at least once before the summer break and finally, we did it,” he added.
Alonso was slowly fading in the hunt for the championship, but returned to some form in June at the Canadian Grand Prix finishing third, although he could easily have won the race if he didn’t suffer from bad traffic. At the following race at the European Grand Prix, more bad luck came when he was cruising in third before an untimely appearance of the safety car saw him finish eighth, while at the British Grand Prix he finished outside of the points after serving a drive-through penalty.
“We did not have much luck in some races and, because of unusual incidents, we did not pick up the points we deserved. There was a slight feeling of frustration with this lack of results, but at last in Germany, for once we had a normal race on a weekend when he had no problems whatsoever and the result was there for all to see,” he said.
Putting all the controversy aside, Ferrari were the fastest team at Hockenheim last weekend, and Alonso has always maintained he is still in the fight for the world championship.
“The win does not change my approach to the rest of the season. We knew full before Hockenheim that our car was much more competitive and that was what made me so confident. Now we must continue in this direction, starting this coming weekend in Budapest,” said Alonso.
The one positive to emerge from the German Grand Prix is Ferrari are back, and so is Alonso, even if they did take the rules into their own hands.
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