Domenicali praises Alonso's 'amazing race'
Scuderia Ferrari comes away from the Indian Grand Prix with twenty six points, thanks to a second place for Fernando Alonso and a sixth for Felipe Massa. It was Fernando’s tenth visit to the podium this season and the eleventh for the team.
The Spaniard is now thirteen points down on the leader in the championship, while Felipe, with a seventh consecutive points finish, out of eleven this season, has consolidated his ninth place. Ferrari now has a ten point advantage over the third placed team in the Constructors’ classification, while the leader is 91 points ahead.
Stefano Domenicali, Team Principal:
“What a race that was from Fernando, simply amazing! Yesterday, he’d said he would tackle this race like a sixty lap qualifying session and he was true to his word: on the attack from start to finish, the only one from the top ten on the grid to make up places by the end. This second place is all down to his talent, to his aggressive approach and the fact he never wants to give up, backed up by a team that is doing the maximum to give him a car that is worthy of him. Sure, we leave India with a bigger gap to the leader of the Drivers’ championship than when we got here, but this race should not leave those who are ahead in a calm and relaxed mood. Fernando and Ferrari will not slacken their efforts by a centimetre, right to the end of this long season. Felipe drove a good race, attacking in the first stint, but then on the defensive in the second, partly due to some limitations that occurred in the management of the fuel. In any case, his sixth place is very valuable in light of the Constructors’ classification, in which we have managed to increase our lead over the third placed team, even if the leaders have pulled even further away. There are three more finals to go, up against very strong opponents, but they are not unbeatable. I recall that, in 1982, the Italian football team was definitely not the strongest but went on to win that year’s World Cup. We believe in our chances and I’m sure that so do all our fans!”
Fernando Alonso, 2nd:
“We can fight the Red Bulls, but at the moment, we still don’t have a car capable of winning. Once again this year we have seen that, in the race, the situation is much better than in qualifying. A great start, a great first lap, a good top speed and the right tyre management produced, along with me driving at 120% for each of the sixty race laps, this second place. We did what we could, as at every race: if, come the end of the championship we will have won, then no one will be able to say it was down to mistakes from the others, but because we always did the maximum. We will already have some updates in Abu Dhabi: let’s hope we can make a step forward because it will be important to start making up the points gap there already. There are 75 points up for grabs which is a lot. I am still optimistic even if we are all aware that we have to improve our performance, especially on Saturday. I don’t know if this was my best performance of the season, as it’s always difficult to make that sort of call. I am particularly keen on the one in Valencia or at Monza, but this one is definitely up there: I pushed from start to finish, maybe taking some more risks in overtaking compared to previous races. Today, after the start, I tried to immediately attack the McLarens getting into their slipstream. They were fighting among themselves and maybe they forgot about me and I managed to get past at least one of them. Then I also managed to overtake Button just a few laps later, but the time lost in those few laps allowed the two Red Bulls to pull out a bit of a gap. In the second stint, I made the most of Webber’s problems with the KERS to overtake him: yet again we have seen that anything can happen and that the races are always long and difficult...”
Felipe Massa, 6th:
“It was a very tough fight, from start to finish. After around 20 laps, I was told from the pitwall that I had to try and save fuel, so I ended up doing over half the race without being able to go flat out and I can assure you, it was definitely not easy, because Kimi was always very close to me. It wasn’t the result I wanted, but all the same, these are important points for the Constructors’ championship. The time lost in FP2 cost me dear, mainly because we were unable to optimise our package. The duel with Kimi after the pit stop? I managed to come out of pit lane in front, but then I let him through at Turn 3 because he was still very close and I wanted to have the DRS down the straight. I think he realised that, but by then it was too late and I had the advantage and managed to get by. Now we go to Abu Dhabi, which is something of a second home race for Ferrari, as we have the beautiful theme park there. Let’s hope we have some more updates on the car and can secure a better result than this sixth place.”
Pat Fry, Technical Director:
“A great result considering our grid positions. Fernando produced yet another amazing performance in what has been an incredible season for him: finishing second having started fifth in a race where overtaking moves are a rare commodity, despite the double DRS zone is really an encouraging sign. Fernando made the most of the opening laps to be able to dispense with the two McLarens and then he set off in pursuit of the Red Bulls, getting past one of them. We made the most of our better top speed and the choice in terms of gear ratios. At the start, we could have opted for a two stop strategy, but as the race evolved we were able to make just one while, at least with Fernando, still being able to push from start to finish. Unfortunately, Felipe was unable to do the same because in the second part of the race, he had to manage his fuel consumption, which prevented him from getting the most out of the car. All the same, this was a positive weekend for him and he brought home points that are important for the Constructors’ championship. We must improve the performance of our car in qualifying and that’s why we are working flat out to bring some updates to every race from now to the end of the season. If we manage to get our drivers further up the starting grid, then we can put Red Bull under pressure: at the moment, Sebastian Vettel is flying away too easily, leading from the start. We know we can count on a really great driver and, alongside him, we will fight right to the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix.”
