F1 Championship: Fernando Alonso upbeat, Jenson Button relishing his underdog status
A resurgent Fernando Alonso is confident about his prospects of clinching the 3rd F1 Championship this season. However, he expects some help from his under-fire team-mate, Felipe Massa as he prepares for last 3 races of the season.
The Spaniard is 14 points behind the current championship leader, Red Bull’s Mark Webber whereas the Brazilian Massa had been out of contention quite a while ago. Ferrari's President, Luca di Montezemolo had also asked Massa ahead of Japanese Grand Prix
to assist his team-mate in his championship bid by shaving off rivals’ points. But, unfortunately Massa crashed out in the first lap at Suzuka.
Nevertheless, Alonso expects Massa to bounce back in the coming races and help him in seizing the title for the first time in 3 years. The two-time World Champion said, “The Korean Grand Prix could 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.” Alonso hopes that by working together, they can prepare themselves better
for the upcoming Korean Grand Prix.
Alonso is also aware of the prolific history of Ferrari and he believes that it would be an insult for the Italian team to settle for 2nd position behind the newbie, Red Bull. He believes that aggressive mentality will be the key in Korea and it is essential
for his team if they want to close the gap on Webber.
He added, “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.”
Alonso also looks wary of other title contenders. Currently, the championship is open to 5 drivers. And with new scoring regulations, it can be anybody’s ball game this season. According to the former Renault driver, the Australian Mark Webber is the only
driver who can afford a bad race whereas any slips from any other drivers will clearly end their bids for title.
On the other hand, McLaren’s Jenson Button is relishing on being an underdog in this year’s title fight. Nonetheless, the defending champion is hoping on taking an all-or-nothing approach to the final 3 races of F1 calendar. Button’s last year performance
was a combination of well-knitted strategy and smartness. Last year, he gained meaty lead in the first 7 races and then adapted to damage limitation in the latter part of the season.
At present, he is 31 points behind Webber and anymore slipups will end his title aspirations. Button stated, “It's all relative. At this time of the season, if you're ahead on points then you can't do anything risky, but if you're behind, then you've got
more confidence to be aggressive because you've got less to lose. For me, it's a very different situation compared to where I was last year, and I'm actually looking forward to taking the fight to the leaders.”
Button believes that luck will favour his team in the coming races. According to him, McLaren wasn't lucky enough in Japan as they did not fulfil their potential and allowed competitors to take the advantage. Button further added, “If we'd got everything
right in qualifying then things would probably have been a little better for the race. But the car felt great to drive, you could take it to the limit, lean on it, and it would stay planted. And that's encouraging for where we want to be in the final three
races, where I believe we'll be more of a challenge at the front.”
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