Fernando Alonso names rival teams and concern over Pirelli tyres – Formula 1 news
Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso has said that 2011 season will be exciting as the new Pirelli rubber will induce more pit-stops.
He named Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes, Renault and Toro Rosso as the six top teams for the 2011 championship.
Ferrari were the most reliable car in the eleven days of testing with only minor technical problems with only one oil leak on the second day of the Jerez test session. They also managed to complete most of the 5,000 kms collectively. Fernando Alonso and
Felipe Massa had enough time behind the wheel to be confidently stepping in the 2011 season.
Although Ferrari have proved their reliability of the car, Alonso still thinks that it will be too early to say that which team will be the victorious one in the coming season.
He said, “We will only really know where we stand compared to the others when we are in Melbourne, at the moment, I am happy because we proved to have a reliable car.”
He said that six teams have taken a big leap forward in development and will surprise many people. Red Bull and Renault are the teams which have an advance exhaust position and Toro Rosso have made a double floor for their car.
Talking about the much targeted Pirelli rubber, he said that the Pirelli tyres will play a crucial role in the team’s strategy as their wear rate will induce more pit-stops to the game, making it even for every team.
He cited an example of a football game and said, “It’s as if in football, it was decided to have a penalty per team each half hour in which case Barcelona and Real Madrid would not be jumping for joy.”
He said that the bigger teams will lose more than the smaller teams. Talking about the speeds, he said that speeds will do some good as all teams will have to take equal number of pit-stops.
The season will get underway on March 27, 2011 and it will clear many minds as along with Alonso, many drivers have shown concern over the new Pirelli tyres.
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