A dream come true - Alonso
After his first race victory for the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Team, double World Champion, Fernando Alonso, discusses his race at Malaysia. He also looks forward to the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend.
"Like Kimi in Australia, I think whoever has the radio problem seems to win the race, so hopefully I can have a radio problem next time! Yes, something wrong with the radio, I was lucky to see the arrow on the pit board, so I came in. However, the guys adjusted something in the first pit stop so from then on the radio was working fine, so no problem. So I came to the pits with fingers crossed hoping the mechanics where there."
Your first victory for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and the team’s first victory since 2005. How does that feel?"Thanks to the start we were able to keep first and second. So, for sure, a dream come true."
And another great day for Lewis aswell…?"Yes fantastic. After the start we knew we were a little bit longer than Ferrari on fuel loads, so it made things easier being first and second after the first corner. This was another race with no mistakes with a perfect job from the team and a perfect job from us, the drivers. We have opened the gap in the Constructors’ Championship and also the Drivers’ Championship. It is fantastic."
How much did Lewis’ start help you? How much easier was it for you in the race?"I don’t know, I don’t know how much he had to push in the laps he was fighting with Felipe Massa. This fight did help me because they were losing time overtaking each other and I was lighter than them for two laps, I was able to open up a gap. It’s always better to have your team mate behind you than a Ferrari."
How much more is there to come; you say there is more work to be done in the next week?"We can not be confused about this result, we have to understand that even if Felipe was leading the race after the first corner our chance to win the race was extremely difficult because they have the pace on the long runs. We can not forget that – we need to keep working as we are now and everything should be ok."
Was the first corner the most significant part of the race?"Absolutely, we knew that our chance was to be first at the first corner. And then fight with the Ferrari or try to keep them behind. The second surprise was to see Lewis second. It is much better to have your team-mate second than a Ferrari."
At what stage of the race did you realise this will be a victory?"After the last pit stop I think to be honest. We were not confident that Kimi was going long for the second stint so we kept pushing and opened the gap but then Kimi stopped for the second time and we had 20 seconds gap - that was the time when the race was in our hands."
Who has the best package for Bahrain?"I think it will be very close. We have to be confident and optimistic, but we cannot confuse ourselves with today’s result. Ferrari have good race pace, they are very very strong. We have to concentrate."
How does it feel winning the first race for your new team?"Fantastic. We know how difficult to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix, not many people in history have done. So to win with two different teams makes me feel very very proud."
You look a little bit more relaxed that the other guys. How demanding has it been for you today?"It was very tough, but I was running along and they had to fight."
Be honest, if I told you that it was going to be a 1-2 finish for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes with both Ferrari’s still in the race?"No way, no way (laughs). For sure it has been a very nice surprise. The good thing is that we didn’t win the race because they had a crash, or a problem or a bad pit stop or anything like that; we won because the pace was there similar to them and thanks to the start and the pit stop we did it. So that is the good thing."
Lewis - the perfect team mate after today?"We will see, we have only finished two races, but to be second and third and first and second in two races gives the team many, many championship points. And that’s what we want; we are here to win the championship."
Kimi celebrated his first win with Ferrari with a tattoo. How will you celebrate your first win with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes?"I could put the team logo here (laughs) No I don’t know, my big celebration will be with the guys, the mechanics."
How easy is it to say that your team mate is better than the one of last year?"It is difficult to say. I think there is still a long championship to go. We need to work, we need to concentrate. The result is coming by itself."
Kimi seemed to be slow in a straight line maybe because they were holding the revs back. How do you think the two cars compare in terms of top speed?"I think in qualifying they were a little bit quicker than us, maybe three or four kms. Today, I didn’t see their results but they were not able to overtake Lewis at the beginning of the race. So, I think they were similar, I think they were a little bit compromised because of Kimi’s engine. Felipe was a little bit more aggressive. We cannot confuse ourselves, we have a 1-2 here, but at the Bahrain test we were behind Ferrari so we must expect to have a very tough weekend in Bahrain. And if we want to win we have to have everything perfect again."
Source McLaren
