Alonso: Kubica is the strongest driver in the world

After Stefano Domenicali and Luca di Montezemolo, it was naturally the turn of the Ferrari drivers to answer questions from journalists covering the “Vrooom” days in Madonna di Campiglio. It was an opportunity for the double Spanish world champion, visibly annoyed by media attention on his private life, to clarify things with the press: « I don’t want to talk about my private life, and I won’t make an exception this time. People said I spent too much time in Maranello, when I actually spent Christmas in Oviedo. Then it was written that I was in Oviedo when in reality I was in Los Angeles. Los Angeles in California, I mean. But obviously, they confused it with Los Angeles de San Rafael, which is next to Segovia, near Madrid. Then it was reported that I was at a nightclub in Madrid, but of course, in all cases, the person who copied/pasted this didn’t note that at that time, I was participating in the Japanese Grand Prix. »

In a rather laconic mood, the Ferrari driver, who finished fourth in the last championship, commented on his chances for 2012: « I am not obliged to win, and no athlete is. I don’t have a crystal ball; it’s January 12th, and I can’t predict how the season will go. I am neither optimistic nor pessimistic. […] I’ve seen the new car in the wind tunnel and on the computer, but that only gives you numbers and lines. We need to understand what happens on the track. I know for you, journalists, each test session will be like a race after which you’ll draw conclusions, but we only begin to understand the real potential of our car from the second or third race. However, on paper, I think the team has everything it needs to do well. »

Regarding the appointment of Hirohide Hamashima as the technical manager for tire and car correlation, and Steve Clarke as head of track operations, the Spaniard asserts that it is better to have new people, a fresh perspective, than to lose staff. Last year, we had issues with the wind tunnel calibration; this year, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t go well from the start.

The winner of the last British Grand Prix also takes the opportunity to lament the lack of testing: « Motorcyclists have motocross and drivers have karting. These are the things closest to what we drive, but it’s still very different and it doesn’t help. It would be like forcing Lionel Messi to train with a racket instead of a ball, or obliging Rafael Nadal to play with a table tennis racket. When they return to competition, they’ll have the same problems as we do. I drive go-karts because, for four months, I can’t do anything else but continue to train » concludes the Spaniard.

But the native of Oviedo finds his smile again when discussing the case of his friend Robert Kubica, who fractured his ankle by slipping on a sheet of ice: « For me, he is the strongest driver in the world. I spoke to him yesterday after his new accident. When he returns to competition, he will be the best on the grid » guarantees the Ferrari driver before specifying, as Scuderia strives to deny rumors of the Polish driver’s return to replace Massa, that he got along well with the Brazilian.

The fact remains that the Spaniard will have to find another opponent than Kubica in 2012, and when asked whom he would like to face, he replies: « Mike Tyson! » Clearly, at this press conference, the Spaniard had enough to rival the tempestuous American boxer.