Fernando Alonso says 3rd place in Japan was not a bad result
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was one of the favourites going into the Japan Grand Prix, but he could only manage 3rd place in the end. The Spaniard admitted that the 3rd place finish was the best he could have
got at the weekend, and he was not at all disappointed to have made it 3 out of 3 races after winning in Italy and Singapore.
The 2 time world champion has made a late charge for his 3rd
world title with consecutive wins in Italy and Singapore. He is currently on 2nd place in driver standings with 206 points and trails Mark Webber by 14 points. Alonso said that before even starting the race at Suzuka the team knew that a 3rd place
was the best they could have done. However he added that the team knew that out of the last 4 tracks this was the worst for them, and the last 3 will be more suited to their car. So taking all that into account a 3rd position was a satisfying end
to the weekend.
Alonso said that his Ferrari F10 car will be well equipped to deal with the new track at Korea and later on in Brazil and Abu Dhabi. He added that 15 points from a race that did not favour our car is not such a bad result. Alonso
went on to say that Mark Webber got 18 points so looking at the bigger picture the team lost ground by 3 points, and that too on a difficult circuit so it is a loss that is bearable.
Fernando Alonso had started on 4th position behind Robert Kubica of Renault. The Spaniard was hoping to leapfrog Kubica at the start of the race but it did not happen.
But that did not matter much later on as Robert Kubica’s Renault suffered a problem in one of his rear wheels. Kubica ended up withdrawing from the race and Alonso latched onto the 3rd spot.
Alonso said: "Obviously it was a tough race. The start was not particularly good," he admitted.
"Robert did a fantastic start, on the clean side as well, so [it was] lucky when Robert retired as he was a tough rival, especially with the top speed of the Renault this weekend.
"Then I was more or less alone the whole race, no pressure from behind and impossible to catch Red Bull in the first part of the race, In the second part they were playing a little bit with that gap and I was able to run close
to them, but never close enough to put them under pressure."
Meanwhile the defending world champion Jenson Button has admitted that it is almost impossible for him to retain his world title. He said in the last 3 races McLaren will have to come up with a much quicker car and unless that
happens he will not be able to deliver.
Jenson Button finished in 4th in the Japan Grand Prix, now he trails the table topper Mark Webber by 31 points with just 3 races left in the season.
There were number of changes and upgrades made to the McLaren car before the Japan Grand Prix. But the results on the track were less than convincing, the 2 drivers had been expecting a car that was much quicker but it did not
happen.
Button said that on a number of occasions this season, the upgrades and modifications between races have not gone according to plan, and that is a big reason behind him and Hamilton falling behind in the title race.
Button said that before the race he knew that to have any chance of retaining his title he would have to finish ahead of Webber. But sadly that could not happen and now there is a massive gap between them.
Tags: