We will win the championship - Alonso

Sunday just gone will hold rather special memories for Fernando Alonso. There is of course some bitterness about the outcome of the British Grand Prix, which is only partly appeased by the delight of seeing Spain win the football World Cup final, with the miracles performed by Casillas the keeper and Iniesta’s goal coming just minutes from the end of extra time.

This was met with cheers in the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro motorhome, which exceptionally had been kept open Sunday night so that a group of Spanish journalists, with one representative of the Dutch media and a few neutral spectators could join Fernando himself to watch the match. Draped with a Spanish flag, the Ferrari driver rejoiced at this historic win for his country. There is a small coincidence, linking Fernado still more to Italy, as it was on the same date, July 11th, twenty eight years ago that Italy’s Azzurri lifted the World Cup for a third time, on that occasion beating West Germany in Spain’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid.

However, the excitement of the final has in no way distracted Alonso’s concentration on the target that he and his team are absolutely determined to reach, despite the difficulties of the last few weeks. It is a time to stay united, to react with grit and determination and the Spaniard made that very clear to all the team on his slowing down lap after taking the chequered flag. “OK guys, keep your heads up, heads up. We will win the championship,” said Fernando over the radio. “We are only halfway through the season and there is plenty of time to recover. We have a great car and we proved that to everyone this weekend and confirmed it with this fastest race lap. It is only the first half and we know we have to do better in the second one and we will do exactly that. Well done all of you for this weekend: whatever the result, we have done a good job. Come on! There’s plenty of time to catch up.” Then came the reply from his race engineer, Andrea Stella, who certainly summed up the feelings of the whole team: “Don’t worry, no one is giving up. We are all behind you, we want the same thing and we will fight right to the end to get it.” Grit, determination and the will to win: three things that are definitely not in short supply in Maranello.