Title fight is still very open - Alonso
Fernando Alonso had his usual Thursday meeting with the media in an unusually hot and sunny Suzuka this afternoon. Coming off the back of two wins from two races, the Spaniard was first asked when he felt he was back in the fight for the Drivers’ crown.
“After Silverstone, because we made improvements in the car and it felt good,” was his surprising response, given it had not been the best weekend for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. “Before then the season had been up and down and even though the car was not too bad, it was not near the level of the Red Bull. The Silverstone track did not really suit our car, but it still felt good there and from then on I was optimistic about the championship.”
As for this weekend, Alonso predicted …the unpredictable! “I think here in Suzuka, the track should again favour the championship leaders, but that does not mean a hundred percent they will win. We need to keep pushing them, because I think that the last three circuits on the calendar will be more unknown and open in terms of who they favour. It will be difficult for us, but hopefully difficult for everyone else too! There are five drivers still in with a chance to win the title and I expect McLaren to come back very strongly again. So it is very open. If you look at the last two races, you could say I was favourite, but we have seen before this season that a driver can do really well for two races and then get some bad results, then get good again: no driver has ever put together six races in a consistent manner. I am sure there will be some more tough moments for us, but we must be prepared to deal with them and not panic, scoring as many points as possible at every race. It might be a podium or maybe a fifth place and in that sort of situation we need to be united and stay calm. With five drivers fighting for the title, it is definitely more complicated than when you are only looking at one other driver, so there are more things to control in terms of strategy: for example, if you are fighting just one driver, you watch what he does, so that if he goes on track in Q1, you try and go out at the same time. But with five of us, it opens the window more and it is harder to control.”
Source Ferrari
