Formula One: Fernando Alonso embraces the third place finish happily at the Brazilian GP
The Ferrari driver, Fernando Alonso is "extremely happy" to wrap up the Brazilian Grand Prix, at third place after a tough battle at the Interlagos track.
The 18th round of the season unfolded amidst a lot of thrill and exhilaration last Sunday, at the Brazilian soil. The much anticipated second last round of the 2010 Formula One calendar saw the Spanish driver end up at 3rd place, which
he considers a pretty good finish as this kept his top place safe in the Drivers’ Championship.
After having started the race from fifth place on the grid, the driver was quick to move up to the third position and kept holding it tight till he saw the chequered flag. With these additional 15 points now, Alonso still stands at the top of the tally having
a total of 246 points under his belt. On the other hand, the Red Bull driver, Mark Webber, who ended the race at 2nd place, stands behind Alonso, being only 8 points adrift the topper. While the third place in the charts is currently occupied by
Sebastian Vettel, the other Red Bull man who bagged the 4th victory of the season at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Now, as Alonso looks forward for a tough battle at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the end of this month, he said that he is relieved for the fact that he at least has the advantage of being on the top. Although he accepts the fact that lead of 8 points does
not matter a lot, yet he is optimistic for the upcoming round as he said, "We knew that it was not an easy thing to do but in terms of points we are extremely happy.
He further went on to say that, the team will see what happens in Abu Dhabi with the drivers' championship, as it's now very open and Sebastian Vettel is a very strong contender. Therefore, they will see what they can do in Abu Dhabi and the result of a
very exciting championship will surface and finally come to an end.
While talking to the media soon after the race, the Ferrari driver denied any suspicions that the Italian team lost pace. He very firmly stated that he was just at the same pace as the Red Bull drivers were, but he lost the race pace at the early laps which
is why he had to settle at the 3rd place.
The two times world Champion explained saying, "I think we lost too much ground in the first laps of the race, trying to overtake Hamilton and then Hulkenberg. So those 10 or 12 seconds we lost at the start to the Red Bulls were impossible to make up.
We were very close on race pace, maybe one tenth or two tenths a lap faster on some laps and one or two tenths slower on other laps.”
The Ferrari driver has made a brilliant come back after having gone through a lulled mid season. The victory at the German Grand Prix, even if it was a very controversial one, brought the driver back to the contention with a loud roar. The last eight races
saw Alonso on the podium seven times, including his four race wins, at the German, Italian, Singapore and Korean Grand Prix’s.
After having leaped from the fifth place in the charts, to the top of the tally, he has proved to be one of the strongest contenders of the Driver’ Championship. Moreover, among his other top two rivals, Webber and Vettel, he is the only man who has not
only seen the title battle from so close but has also bagged victory twice. On the other hand, the stress and pressure is completely alien for both the Red Bull drivers.
With all determination and optimism, the Spaniard is looking forward for a tough battle as the 2010 season would pack up in Abu Dhabi in two weeks time.
Tags: