Alonso admires Ferrari’s refusal to give up
On his blog, the Ferrari driver reflects on his unexpected victory in Malaysia but confirms that it doesn't change the difficult situation currently faced by Scuderia. The Spanish driver also talks about discovering Twitter, where he opened an account before the start of the season.
By winning in Malaysia, Fernando Alonso lifted the spirits of all the tifosi. Even though everyone within Scuderia Ferrari acknowledges that the victory achieved in the rain at Sepang doesn’t change anything, it nonetheless reinvigorates the entire red team: « It was nice to be back in Maranello after the Sepang victory. On the plane, I was still thinking about the race and could hardly believe it. Then, once I arrived in Maranello, I saw smiles on everyone’s faces and was very happy to see how strong the desire to work on improving the car as quickly as possible was » confides Fernando Alonso on his ‘blog’.
And the Spaniard went back over the circumstances of his 28th victory in Formula One, the seventh for Ferrari: During the race, I only started thinking about the win once the last stop was done. With the intermediate tires, I was trying to widen the gap as much as possible, but I knew that on a drying track, as the possibility of switching to slick tires became real, everything could still change. Then, after the stop, I saw that Perez was very fast and putting a lot of pressure on me, but I knew there was only one dry line, barely two meters wide: even if he was on my tail, passing me wouldn’t have been easy, and I hoped I would be able to block his path until the end.
If he acknowledges that anyone who bet on his victory will have amassed a nice sum, the Ferrari driver repeats once again that this victory does not change anything about the difficult situation the Scuderia is facing at the start of the season: Nobody, not even within the team, harbors the slightest illusion. The championship hasn’t started the way we would have liked, and there is much, much more to do. But the refusal to give up is a quality I have always admired at Ferrari, both when I raced against them and now that I am part of the team. In the next two races, we will also be on the defensive, there is no doubt about that. As long as we are unable to be competitive and constantly fight for the podium or victory, limiting the damage will be the only thing we can do. If conditions are normal, we must try not to lose too many points compared to the best: hopefully, we can do [in China and Bahrain] what we did in Australia and Malaysia…
The driver also confides that while waiting for the Chinese Grand Prix, he will dedicate his time to improving his physical preparation and enjoying his family: « [I spent] a few days in Italy to undergo a series of medical tests at the Physiological Center of Forli where Fabrizio Borra, my physical trainer, reigns supreme. I do these medical and physical check-ups two to three times a year to see what condition I’m in. Then, I will be in Spain to see my family so that we can spend a few days together. It takes a little time to relax after a race as demanding as the one we had in Sepang, and then it will be time to put the finishing touches on my preparation for a new sequence of two Grand Prix in one week. »
The Spaniard will undoubtedly also take advantage of this first break in the season to continue his exploration of Twitter, on which he opened an account before the start of the season: « The last three weeks have been my first spent on Twitter, and I must say that it has been a very pleasant experience. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while […]. Over the past few months, I’ve noticed a lot of discussions about me on the internet and social media, so I thought it would be better if I was there myself […]. For now, it’s great, especially reading the tweets from my followers and the suggestions they share with me: I don’t reply to them because it would take all day, but I read all the comments and will try to improve. »
The native of Oviedo admits to his surprise at the number of “followers” who quickly subscribed to @alo_oficial: « When I published the first video I made, I was on a layover in Doha during my trip to Australia, and in the airport lounge, I bet with my agent and my physio, Edoardo, on the number of followers I would have before leaving: I said a thousand, Luis [editor’s note: his manager] said 800, and Edoardo 600. Well, after four hours, when it was time to take off for Melbourne, the number had reached 39,000! There are so many messages, all positive, and I must say it’s a real source of motivation. »
