Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso hopeful of championship in ongoing 2011 Formula 1 season
Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso has said that he can compete for the Formula 1 championship in the ongoing 2011 season provided his team can build on to the momentum gained in the Turkish Grand Prix.
So far, in the four races of the 2011 season, Sebastian Vettel has been head and shoulders above the chasing pack. The German has won three out of four races and is 52 points ahead of Fernando Alonso in the drivers’ standings.
Alonso is not deterred and believes that if Ferrari keep getting good results, there is no reason why he cannot challenge for the championship. He said that the result in Turkey was encouraging and the fact that he managed to make it to the podium was a
clear indication that things are improving for the Italian team.
“What matters are results and we've started to make the podium. We must do that regularly and if so I'm convinced that we will again be able to fight for the title,” said Alonso.
Fernando Alonso topped the time sheets in the first practice session in Turkey on Friday. However, he could not manage to keep the same momentum in the qualifying. During the race, he was outpaced by Sebastian Vettel who took a big lead ahead of the pack,
but Alonso was engrossed in a tough battle with Mark Webber for the number two spot. Fernando Alonso did beat Webber to the 2nd place but with three laps to go before the end, Webber managed to get his place back and completed a Red Bull 1-2 in
Istanbul.
Fernando Alonso said after the race that the final difference between him and Vettel was almost exactly the amount of time he lost on the track when he was being held back by Nico Rosberg during the early part of the race.
Alonso added that he has paid extra attention to the way he starts a race, and has analysed all his races from the last season and the Turkish GP this year. He added that despite having a good qualifying, it is the start to a race that can make or break
the Grand Prix for a driver.
Fernando Alonso is trying to be as positive as he can and is taking solace in the fact that compared to the last season, he has managed to accumulate more points from the same four venues that he managed last season and still just missed out on the title
by two points.
“What came out of this little game was that compared to 2010 I'm eight points short [49 versus 41] but in the same four races [Australia, Malaysia, China and Turkey] this year I've brought home 13 more points compared to last year [41 versus 28],” he said.
The Brazilian admitted that the gap between him and Sebastian Vettel is quite big at the moment but he said that this is the longest F1 season in history and that means that there is more time than ever to catch on.
Alonso, the two-time world champion, believes that given the right modifications and better strategy, Ferrari can catch up to Red Bull and he surely will be able to challenge for the world championship.
Alonso joined Ferrari in 2010 and won two world championships with Renault. He believes that Ferrari is the right team for him and wants to repay the team’s faith and belief by winning the championship for them.
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