Practice Two: Alonso tops interrupted session at Canadian GP 2011

Fernando Alonso set the pace ahead of Sebastian Vettel as the drivers had to contend with a crash-interrupted practice in Canada

There were three accidents during the session. The first belonged to Adrian Sutil, who put his car into the wall exiting Turn 7. Moments later, Kamui Kobayashi brought out the red flags when he hit the at Turn 4.

The session was stopped for nine minutes while moments after the restart Jerome D'Ambrosio went off at the same spot as Kobayashi. His shunt also brought out the red flags.

The final ten minutes of the session saw Pedro de la Rosa put in his first laps in the Sauber C30. The McLaren tester will race for Sauber this weekend after Sergio Perez revealed he was not feeling 100 percent after Practice One.

Alonso emerged as the man to beat, clocking a 1:15.107 while Vettel came back from his Practice One woes to finish in second place, 0.369s off the pace.

Felipe Massa, finishing ahead of the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button and Force India's Paul di Resta.

Report: The track temperature was sitting at 44'C as Friday's second practice got underway in Montreal. The drivers were quickly out and almost immediately put lap times on the board. Paul di Resta went quickest with a 1:20.038 ahead of Jaime Alguersuari and Kamui Kobayashi.

Nick Heidfeld was the next to lead the way, clocking a 1:17.499, slotting in ahead of Felipe Massa, Vitaly Petrov and Fernando Alonso. Mark Webber improved to third place. Fernando Alonso powered by Nico Rosberg on the track as he made his way up to the P1 slot. His reign was short-lived as Mark Webber went quickest before, seconds later, he was overhauled by Sebastian Vettel by 0.334s. The German was back in action after his team made some hasty repairs to his RB7.

Lewis Hamilton joined the Red Bulls at the front of the packing, taking third place and then second while his team-mate Jenson Button improved to third.

After the initial rush, many drivers headed back into their garages before re-emerging out on track, putting in long-run heavy-fueled runs. This meant almost no changes to the timesheets, although there were a few off-track excursions as they tried to find the perfect line and braking point.

Massa took second place behind Vettel with Alonso slotting into third. The two Ferrari drivers both within a quarter of a second off the Red Bull driver's time. Alonso went on to overhaul Vettel by 0.271s while Heidfeld claimed seventh place on the softer option Pirelli tyres.

Adrian Sutil became the first casualty of the session as he hit the wall exiting Turn 7. Yellow flags were out as the marshals moved his car out of the way. Kamui Kobayashi was the next man out, crashing just minutes after Sutil as he hit the wall on the way out of Turn 4. The Japanese driver's accident brought out the red flags for nine minutes.

Less than a minute after the session had resumed Jerome D'Ambrosio put his Virgin racer into the wall. Hamilton suffered a right rear puncture but did not appear to have hit a wall or barrier. And with that the session was red flagged again.

Pedro de la Rosa completed his first lap for Sauber, a 1:21.873, which was 6.6s off the pace. De la Rosa improved to 20th place but cut the chicane to get his time. Alonso was also using more of the track than expected, taking a trip over the grass at Turn 2.

The session ended with Alonso in the P1 slot with a 1:15.107, followed by Vettel and Massa.

Times
01. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m15.107s 34 laps
02. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m15.476s + 0.369 29 laps
03. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m15.601s + 0.494 33 laps
04. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m15.977s + 0.870 26 laps
05. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m15.989s + 0.882 25 laps
06. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m16.089s + 0.982 34 laps
07. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m16.102s + 0.995 28 laps
08. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m16.324s + 1.217 32 laps
09. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m16.422s + 1.315 32 laps
10. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m16.687s + 1.580 28 laps
11. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m16.905s + 1.798 16 laps
12. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m16.941s + 1.834 39 laps
13. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m17.051s + 1.944 32 laps
14. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m17.684s + 2.577 34 laps
15. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m17.757s + 2.650 20 laps
16. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m18.470s + 3.363 33 laps
17. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m18.482s + 3.375 38 laps
18. Pedro de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1m18.536s + 3.429 14 laps
19. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m18.601s + 3.494 38 laps
20. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m19.209s + 4.102 28 laps
21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m19.810s + 4.703 25 laps
22. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m20.284s + 5.177 31 laps
23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m20.311s + 5.204 38 laps
24. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m20.922s + 5.815 26 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Canadian GP - Alonso: “I see a positive response in the factory”

After attending a Shell event in downtown Montreal, a city that always reserves a special welcome for the Prancing Horse team, Fernando Alonso met the media at the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro hospitality unit, backing onto the Olympic Rowing Basin at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit.

Looking at the coming weekend, the Spaniard clearly wants to wait until he has completed some laps before making predictions. “I don’t know how competitive we can be here and we must wait and see once we get out on track,” he began. “It should be a better track for us, in the same way that Monaco was, because when we run on the softer tyres it seems we perform a little better. Secondly, aerodynamics is less important here, because there are not many high speed corners and that helps as we know that, aerodynamically, we are a bit behind our rivals. Therefore, we can maybe expect to be a little bit closer here. However, we must not forget that Red Bull has been quick at all types of circuit and McLaren has been fast at tracks with opposing characteristics, like Barcelona and Monaco. I think we can be closer to them here and have a chance of fighting to be on the podium, but it will be very tough, as indeed it has been throughout the season so far.”

Pirelli might be bringing the same tyres here as they did in the Principality, but the track conditions are much tougher on rubber in Montreal. “I expect more difficulties than in Monaco as far as the tyres are concerned,” confirmed Fernando. “Already there, a one stop was not the fastest strategy, but it was the best one because it is impossible to overtake there. Here it is very easy to overtake and if you tried to adopt the strategy of running to the end, like Vettel did in Monaco, you would find yourself down in eighth place. Even two stops could be difficult here so I expect a good number of stops on Sunday.”

For the first time this season, the DRS (Downforce Reduction System) will be used at two points rather than just one around the track. “It will mean we can adopt a different approach for this race, in terms of the number of pit stops and doing an extra one is not a problem as you can overtake easily and making more pit stops will seem more realistic,” maintained the Ferrari man. “However, let’s not forget that there is rain forecast for Sunday, in which case use of DRS will not be allowed. In a dry race with double DRS, we will see a lot of overtaking which will be a good show for the fans. If it does rain, then because of our situation – we are a long way behind in the championship in terms of points and we are not yet quite as quick as our opponents – the wet for us is not such a problem, because at the moment, we would not win a straightforward race in the dry. So, any strange factors can maybe help us, but wet races are also a lottery in which you need to gamble and you need to win.” Finally, Alonso was asked if he could sense a benefit to the restructuring of the technical department, announced a fortnight ago in Monaco. “I see a positive response back in the factory and a good atmosphere within the team, where everyone is prepared to work hard to apply all the new methods involved in this change.”

Source: Ferrari.com

Alonso's Blog: We want to make another step forward

After a brief cycle of races in Europe, here we are again on another long intercontinental voyage, this time heading West. The Montreal race is one of the most popular with the drivers and the teams: the city is very welcoming and the people are very interested in Formula 1, to the extent that the grandstands are already busy on Friday.

I arrived yesterday evening and this afternoon I popped down to the track to meet up with the team. I found that the boys were in good spirits, wanting to demonstrate here that Monte Carlo wasn’t a flash in the pan. There is promise that it can happen. Even though it has some very fast stretches, the Canadian track suits cars which can jump over the kerbs without losing too much balance and cars that have good traction on the exits of the slow corners. Those are both characteristics that are among the strong points of the 150° Italia.

Here aerodynamic efficiency, which is our Achilles Heel at the moment, is less important and so we think we can have more chance to fight for the top places. Brakes are another fundamental factor on this circuit: we will need to work hard during free practice to understand the correct level of cooling in order to avoid the risk of problems in the race.

In Montreal we will again have the two soft tyre compounds prepared by Pirelli: the Soft and the Supersoft. Last year this was one of the few races in which we saw more pit stops than the traditional one-stop because the degradation of the tyres is quite high. Even though the Pirellis are different to the Bridgestones, I don’t think we will see anyone manage to get to the end of the race with only one tyre change, as we saw in Monaco. As we have seen this year, it will be important to pick the right moment for the pit stop so as not to lose too much time compared to your direct rivals.

For the first time this year we will have two places where it will be possible to use the DRS on Sunday: the first is after the apex of Turn 10, the second on the pit straight. I’m interested to see what will happen: on paper whoever manages to pass in the first zone will then have a big advantage because they will be able to use the movable wing again on the main straight, even though they are ahead of the car they are battling.

Last year I managed to make the podium but we left Montreal with a definite sensation of having deserved more than our eventual third place. There were a couple of episodes that didn’t go well for us that prevented us from picking up the win that was within our reach. We also had the chance to win at Monaco ten days ago and it would have been good to have won there because wins have now eluded us for too long. It remains very difficult because I expect McLaren and Red Bull to be very strong but we must not count anything out.

The second third of the season is starting and the situation in the championship is far from favourable. It’s true that there are still many races to go but it’s clear that we must try to find a catalyst for this title chase in terms of points. We hope to start straightaway, on a track that carries the name of one of the drivers who is most loved by Ferrari’s tifosi: Gilles Villeneuve.

Source: ferrari.com

Gene: Alonso is better than Schumacher

Ferrari test driver Marc Gene has revealed that he regards Fernando Alonso as the best driver he has worked with in Formula 1, which includes Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen, amid reports that the team supplies superior equipment to the Spaniard.

Alonso, with a new long-term contract, is widely regarded as Maranello’s number one driver, particularly with Felipe Massa struggling to match him over the past two seasons.

But fellow Spaniard, Gene told El Mundo newspaper: “I can confirm 100% that both Felipe and Fernando have the same materials at their disposal. If the results of Fernando have been superior it is because of his very high level.”

“I cannot judge what he did in his time at Renault and McLaren but I have worked with world champions Schumacher, Villeneuve and Raikkonen and Fernando is the one who impresses me the most,” said Gene.

“Before he arrived at Ferrari I had great expectations, and now that I’ve seen and studied and worked with him, I can say he has exceeded all of the expectations,” added the Ferrari test driver.

Gene, meanwhile, said he does not believe it would be the right move for Ferrari to abandon work on the 150 Italia car in order to ensure a more competitive start to 2012. “It is true that the gap to Red Bull is significant, even if there are many races left. But no gap is unbridgeable, especially for a team like Ferrari.”

He concluded, “Also, if it is right that the regulations for next year do not change much, it is still useful to develop the current car because these improvements can also apply to the next one. Ferrari’s philosophy is to not give up while the maths do not prove otherwise.”

Gene was Ferrari test driver from 2004 until last year. He still keeps close ties with the Maranello squad while campaigning for the Peugeot factory team in sportscar racing, including Le Mans. Gene competed in 36 Grands Prix for Minardi and Williams.

Source: YallaF1

Alonso's Blog: I tried to the very end

I arrived in Maranello late this morning and in the afternoon, I was involved in some PR activities. I also got the chance to meet two of our young FDA drivers, Raffaele Marciello and Brandon Maisano, who were at Fiorano for a Formula 3 test. Then, I headed off for Parma where tonight I am playing in the “Partita del Cuore” (game of the heart) a three-way football tournament which is raising funds for the Telethon charity.

Over twenty four hours have passed since the end of the Monaco Grand Prix and I certainly haven’t changed my mind. Yesterday we had a real chance of taking our first win of the season and the interruption following the accident with Petrov and Alguersuari robbed us of the chance of trying to the very end. In the second part of the race, after the pit stop, I tried to save the tyres specifically to be prepared for the closing laps, when I hoped I’d be able to make the most of it if Sebastian had any difficulties with his tyres, given he’d been on the same set for many laps. Unfortunately, that plan went out the window, but you have to accept it, because we know that situations like the one we saw in Monaco yesterday happen quite often.

Immediately after the race, I said the fight for the title was getting ever more difficult, not to say impossible. Sure, if Vettel ends up winning a race in which we felt there was a chance of victory, then you get a feeling of disappointment, but that does not mean will not continue working hard at the track and back home on developing the car. Clearly the gap in the championship is widening all the time: we can do the maths, but neither myself nor the team are used to throwing in the towel. Already today, I’ve been talking to the engineers about the new parts we will have in Montreal, but above all, of the steps forward we must take for Silverstone, when we will back at a track which requires a lot of aerodynamic downforce. That’s where we will really see how our season is going to pan out. Up until then, we want to and we must believe in ourselves.

I am pleased to hear that Sergio Perez has already left the Monaco hospital this afternoon. He had a truly horrible accident and the fact he came out of it almost unscathed is a clear indication of the progress made in terms of Formula 1 car safety. You can never do away with the risks completely, but they can be significantly reduced for the drivers and for all those who work at the track.

Source: Ferrari.com

Video: BBC - Monaco GP: Ferrari quicker than we showed today - Fernando Alonso

After finishing fourth in Saturday's qualifying, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso predicts pit strategy rather than overtaking will determine the result of Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix



Source: FiftyBuckss

Video: BBC Monaco GP - Team restructure will boost Ferrari - Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso says he has full confidence in Stefano Domenicali's choices after Ferrari restructured their technical team following a disappointing start to the Formula 1 season



Source: FiftyBuckss

Monaco GP - A special helmet for a special cause

Monte Carlo, 25 May – The Monaco Grand Prix is a unique race on the championship calendar and, often the drivers like to display something unusual, either on the car, their race suit or their helmet.

As from tomorrow morning’s free practice, Fernando Alonso will be using something special: a helmet with the same design but new colours, as the traditional yellow and blue have been changed for a gold-white combination.

This scheme will also be used in Singapore, the second street circuit on the 2011 calendar and it is in a worthy cause: the helmet will be auctioned at the end of the championship and proceeds will go to the Fondazione Fernando Alonso which is mainly involved in projects aimed at developing road safety initiatives for children.

Source: Ferrari.com

Video: BBC F1 2011 - 5 ESP - Good start but Ferrari not competitive: Fernando Alonso

An impressive start by Fernando Alonso at the Spanish Grand Prix was not enough as he finishes fifth and admits his Ferrari was "not competitive" and that his team need to make a "step forward"



Source: FiftyBuckss

Alonso: The perfect lap

Fernando Alonso has hailed the qualifying lap that put him fourth on the grid for the Spanish GP as "perfect".

With Red Bull and McLaren dominating the weekend's running, it seemed that Alonso would be forced to settle for a place on the third row of the grid.

However, late in the third session of qualifying the Spaniard thrilled his home crowd by producing a lap just + 0.983 seconds slower than pole sitter Mark Webber and 0.032 seconds faster than Jenson Button's McLaren.

"I did a perfect lap: I reckon that if I tried to repeat it twenty times, I could not do better!" said a delighted Alonso.

"When you do a lap like that it's hard to put into words what one feels: always being on the limit, in every corner is a really special feeling for a driver.

"I am very happy with this result, because we have never made it to the second row this year. Sure, pole position is still a long way off: today, Red Bull was once again out of reach and we must work hard to try and get closer.

The 29-year-old was confident that Ferrari would be challenging for the top places on race day.

"So far, in the races we have gone better than in qualifying and so I think we can be in the fight for the podium," he explained.

"It will be tough at the start because the McLarens always get off the line well and then they have one more new set of soft tyres than we do."

Source: Planet-F1

Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa and Marc Gené inaugurate the first Ferrari Store in Spain

Barcelona, 19 May – The first Ferrari Store on Spanish soil was officially opened today at number 44 Paseo de Gracia in the heart of Barcelona. Watched by a large crowd of Ferrari enthusiasts, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro drivers Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa and Marc Gené cut the ribbon on the new Store. Also present at the opening was Lorenzo Bassetti, the General Manager of ARP, already partner of Ferrari with numerous other stores.

Alonso and Massa’s arrival in the new FF received a rapturous welcome from the tifosi and enthusiasts gathered outside the Store. At the end of the ceremony, the drivers posed for the dozens of photographers and TV cameras covering the event. However, before leaving for the circuit, they also met with the media and a select number of Ferrari clients inside the Store, but stopped off to sign autographs and greet the delighted fans that had been waiting for them since the early hours of the morning.

The Barcelona Ferrari Store, with its around 300 square metres on two floors, embraces the Ferrari spirit with its dual heart in competition and luxury. Its four great windows are facing one of the most important shopping streets in Barcelona. Inside, the new Store’s different areas have been planned like unique and special spaces: the Fan line, dedicated to the fans of the Scuderia, is presented on the ground floor. The luxury and lifestyle lines, stylish men’s, women’s and kid’s clothing - reflecting the values of craftsmanship and quality of the world of Ferrari, interpreted in a contemporary way - can be found on the upper floor. A selection of different items topped off with accessories, technology and memorabilia, original components, unique and certified by Ferrari GT and F1.

Graphic works and images accompany the clients on their way through the Store, narrating the history of the Prancing Horse. The interior design picks up the dynamic and sinuous forms of the road cars, while the important aspect of energy conservation has been implemented by using LEDs of the latest generation for the Store’s lighting.

The shop in Barcelona is the 46th point of sale Ferrari in the world, and joins others in prestigious locations such as Rome, New York, London, Johannesburg and Abu Dhabi. The Store is managed by ARP, Advanced Retail Project, operating in the retail sector in Italy and all over the world.


Source: Ferrari.com

Video: Shell Helix Ultra Mixology Class with Fernando Alonso

Starring Fernando Alonso, the 'Shell Helix Ultra Mixology Class' demonstrates the intricate and complex nature of the fuels and lubricants supplied to the Scuderia Ferrari Formula One team by Shell.
Much like a cocktail, the perfect fuels and lubricants are created from a blend of constituent parts and additives, constantly refined in the pursuit of an ideal end product.
Mixing a traditional fruit cocktail using local ingredients, Fernando Alonso explores the challenges Shell face throughout the season -- as explained by Ian Albiston, Shell's Formula One Project Manager



Souce: Shell

Alonso and Ferrari together until 2016

Maranello, 19 May - Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro announces that it has renewed its technical and racing agreement with the driver Fernando Alonso up to the end of the 2016 season.

“It is a great pleasure to have renewed our agreement with a driver who has always demonstrated a winning mentality even in the most difficult circumstances, commented President Luca di Montezemolo. “Fernando has all the required qualities, both technically and personally to play a leading role in the history of Ferrari and I hope he will be enriching it with further wins very soon.”

“I am very happy to have reached this agreement, said Fernando Alonso. “I immediately felt comfortable within Ferrari and now it feels to me like a second family. I have the utmost faith in the men and women who work in Maranello and in those who lead them: it is therefore natural for me to decide to extend my relationship in the long term like this, with a team at which I will no doubt end my Formula 1 career one day.”

Source: Ferrari.com

Ferrari - Interviews with Alonso and Massa before the Spanish GP

Source: NextgenAutoVideos

Alonso's Blog: We’ll see who’s been the cleverest in the development championship

Here we are with the Spanish Grand Prix just round the corner, a race that has a special feel about it for me. I will arrive in Barcelona tonight, because right from tomorrow morning I’ve got an appointment in my diary: attending the launch of the first ever Ferrari Store to be opened in Spain, in the heart of the Catalan capital, on one of the most important streets in the city, Paseo de Gracia. Felipe will be there, as will Marc who will be very much the main man given he is from Barcelona. Then it will be time to head off to the track for the usual Thursday jobs, most of them dealing with media work.

It’s always nice to race in Spain. I love the feeling of warmth one gets from the fans right from the very first free practice sessions. Day after day, you can see the grandstands fill with flags – the red of Ferrari and the azure blue of my compatriots from Asturias – and that is a special feeling for me. My win here in 2006 is still one of the best moments of my career and it would be a dream come true to do it again with Ferrari sooner or later.

I know that you all want to know if that might happen already this weekend, but I am not able to give you an answer to that. On paper, we do not yet have the potential to be in a straight fight for the win, with one team clearly the favourite in this regard. However, we know things can change quickly in our sport and, in Turkey, finally we managed to bring home a podium finish. The road is still long, but I believe we have at least started down it going in the right direction.

These past few days, the team has worked so hard in Maranello on developing the 150° Italia and in order to be as well prepared as possible for these two back to back races, given that next week will be back on track in Monaco. During the days I spent in the factory I could feel that everyone there really wants to fight back: the feeling is so strong you can almost touch it, whether you are speaking with people in meetings or as you walk around the Gestione Sportiva. Both Felipe and I have done so many kilometres in the simulator and we feel that the updates being introduced will see us make progress in terms of performance. Whether or not this will be enough to close the gap to the best, we will only find out over the weekend, because we cannot ignore the fact that the others have not been twiddling their thumbs. We will see who has been the cleverest in the development championship.

The Catalunya Circuit is one of the ones we know best because traditionally it is a favourite venue for winter testing. This year, we have already had two sessions there, one at the end of February and the other in early March.

This means we will all arrive there with a pretty good idea of what settings we will use as a baseline on the car to start the weekend, even if the conditions we will encounter will be very different, especially in terms of temperature.

It will be very important to run continuously in Friday’s two free practice sessions to fine tune the car and check out the behaviour of the new technical components. It will also be vital to study the performance and wear of the tyres. In the race simulations we did during testing we saw significant degradation, especially on the front left tyre, which is put under major stress: we will see if, with different temperatures, that situation changes. Compared to previous races at this track I think we will see more overtaking, especially down to the difference in tyre performance that could be a factor during the race: further reason to come to the track to watch the Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon. It would be nice to jump on the podium again and be able to salute all our fans from there: as far as me and the team are concerned, as usual, we will be giving it our very best shot.

Source: Ferrari.com

Alonso from the F1 to Fiat 500 TwinAir: Everyday Fun

From the F1 to Fiat 500: Alonso is the testimonial of the new 500 Twin. Reason? Fiat aims to highlight that this car is fun to drive thanks to "the twin turbo engine from 85 hp.
"The pleasure of driving is this - explain to Fiat - which becomes a fun obsession. In the spot because we see a patient, so" dependent on the fun "as to require the care of a psychologist. At the first session the doctor asks him what you love do in your spare time. This innocent question generates a flood of memories and emotions: "I like going to the movies, go out to dinner, go to the supermarket, go buy the newspaper, go to the park ...".
Reason? For him it does not matter so much what to do, but do so on the new 500 Twin: from there would not want to leave ...





Source: fiatontheweb

Alonso's Blog: We must keep going down this road

It’s been a long week of work, starting on Tuesday May 3 with a session on the simulator. It has only just finished today as we kept working with the engineers to prepare as well as we can for the coming races. In between came the grand prix in Istanbul, where we took our first podium of the year. It was about time because we’d missed out on finishing a race in the top three for too long, but what was especially important was to fight for the top places until the end. That already happened in China with Felipe and in the two previous races we were also close to the podium: finally we have now achieved what we were capable of.

Third place was also important for the morale of the team. We were all unhappy with a start to the season that did not live up to expectations and we know how much good it does to see that the efforts expended every day are paying off. But we certainly can’t be happy with a third place and what matters most is that we must be much more competitive in qualifying. If we always start from the third row or lower it’s a struggle to fight for the podium. We have a lot of irons in the fire and we hope that as early as next week in Barcelona we will have new parts that allow us to take an important step forward in qualifying as well.

You know I like playing with numbers – and as I travelled backwards and forwards between home, Maranello and Turkey, I made a comparison between my first four races of last year and those of this year in the corresponding grands prix. What came out of this little game was that compared to 2010 I’m eight points short (49 versus 41) but in the same four races, this year I’ve brought home 13 more points compared to last year (41 versus 28). It’s true that my current gap to the top of the drivers championship is much greater (52 points) compared to what I had after Shanghai 2010 (11 points) but I well recall that after Silverstone we were 47 points away and we only had eight races left. Today we still have 15 grands prix to come. This shows that you can look at the same thing in two different, even completely opposite ways. What matters are results and we’ve started to make the podium: we must do that regularly and if so I’m convinced that we will again be able to fight for the title.

On Sunday morning in Istanbul there was a serious accident in the GP2 race, which involved our driver, Davide Rigon. I’m very sorry for him as he will have to stop racing for a while. We hope that he recovers soon – and I say that also for selfish reasons because he was doing precious work for us in the simulator.

Now I’m returning home: a few days of rest before a very demanding double-header made up of Barcelona, one of my home races, and Monaco. Now we hope to keep going down the road we took in Turkey.

Source: Ferrari.com

Alonso: I’d like Flavio to return we miss him

Fernando Alonso would like to see Flavio Briatore back in Formula 1 which has further fueled speculation that the controversial Italian millionaire, who led Alonso to two F1 world titles, is on course for a role in the Ferrari team in the near future.

The ‘Mou’ reference is to Jose Mourinho, the highly respected Portuguese football coach who arrived at Real Madrid last year and is regarded as one of the best managers in history.

In Turkey last weekend, rumours that Briatore – currently banned from Formula 1 for the his role in the 2008 Singapore GP race fixing ‘crashgate’ scandal – could be heading to Ferrari were mentioned by Sky Italia.

“I would like Flavio to return, we miss him,” Alonso told Spanish broadcaster TV3. “He is an unique character but it wouldn’t be like Mou in Madrid”, he added, possibly referring to Mourinho’s latest controversies.

Instead, Alonso said Ferrari has important questions to ask itself regarding its overall approach to designing its single seaters.

“I think Ferrari has to try to change a little bit the way we work, risking more and being more innovative,” said the Spaniard. “From now on we have to start inventing.”

The two times F1 world champion insists the 2011 season is still long but acknowledged the challenge of chasing down Red Bull Racing’s runaway Sebastian Vettel.

“We will not give up so soon but we are aware of the difficulty of having this championship,” said the 29-year-old.

Ferrari technical director Aldo Costa also said it will take some more time before the 150 Italia car is a winner.

“Probably in Barcelona we will take another step forward,” he told Diario Sport, “but we will have to wait for some more races to fight for victory.”

Source: YallaF1

Video: Interview with Fernando Alonso after Turkish GP 2011

Fernando Alonso hopes his third place in the Turkish Grand Prix is the "first step" in Ferrari's recovery



Source: FiftyBuckss

Alonso: Finally we can enjoy racing again

After three tough races where success appeared to be miles away, Fernando Alonso "finally" enjoyed his racing with a third-placed result in Turkey

Ferrari had a trying time in the opening three races of the Championship with Alonso achieving a best result of P4 in Australia.

However, the Scuderia seemed to find their way in Istanbul thanks to the introduction of several new parts, including a revised front and rear wing.

Alonso, once again starting from fifth place on the grid, quickly made up positions, overtaking Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber before losing out to the latter in the final laps.

But, he still made it home in third place, earning Ferrari's first podium of the season.

"I think we did a good weekend overall," said the double World Champ

"The car performed a bit better than what we did in the first three races of the Championship, so finally we enjoyed racing again and we enjoyed a race fighting for the podium positions, changing position through the race.

"Finally we can enjoy racing again."

But if only he had succeeded in overtaking Rosberg a bit sooner, the Spaniard reckons he may have held onto second place.

"We lost a little bit of time behind Rosberg at the beginning, and we did not feel the possibility to fight for P1 anymore, so we concentrated on P2," he said.

"I had a little bit of advantage in terms of tyre degradation compared to Mark, we used the DRS and I was able to overtake him, and in the last part of the race it was more or less the opposite.

"It was okay, fighting with Red Bull these days is difficult. It was close but we'll try again."

Source: Planet-F1