Fernando Alonso believes Ferrari will be fighting for top spots – Formula 1 news
Fernando Alonso believes that he will be fighting for the top at the Australian Grand Prix.
Ferrari have had a torrid time in the pre-season tests. The team endured several technical difficulties which has caused team technical director Pat Fry to suggest that the team might not even be able to win podiums in the upcoming season.
While team President Luca di Montezemolo hopes that is not the case, but the situation has casted serious doubts over the team’s title winning campaign.
Alonso though is saying that there is every possibility that Ferrari will and can push the leaders of the grid.
“I'm confident. I'm very relaxed about the possibilities of our car,” said Alonso during a Shell VPower promotional event on Thursday in Melbourne.
“I think the winter has been tough for us with so many tests to do. It's quite a complex car in terms of set-up and understanding it. Maybe we didn't reach our targets but it doesn't mean that we are slower than the other cars. That we will not know until
Saturday,” he said.
He admitted that the team has not been able to reach the targets it aimed for but maintained that it does not mean that the new Ferrari F2012 is not going to be competitive.
The Spaniard added that he is brimming with confidence and he will be fighting for the victories. He said that the initial part of the season will be integral and if that goes to plan Ferrari will be giving a hard time to the other teams.
There might be extra pressure on Alonso to perform as his teammate Felipe Massa has not been in the best of form for the previous two seasons. Montezemolo has already given the Brazilian a warning to perform or face losing his race seat. The warning may
inspire him to perform or it could backfire and Massa may not perform at all. The more certain situation looks to be that Ferrari will be looking for a replacement in either case.
Ferrari will also be worried about Lotus, Force India and Mercedes who all look really strong and performed well during the pre-season tests.
It will be interesting to see how the Ferrari fares once the season begins.
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