Sunday: New podium for Alonso, Massa finally performs

Fernando Alonso – 3rd

I am very happy with the way things went this weekend. We leave Monaco with the lead in the championship (drivers): if someone had offered me this after the Mugello tests at the beginning of the month, I would have signed for it, but if someone had told me this near Melbourne, I would never have believed it! In Australia, we started 12th, then in the last two races, I managed to finish on the podium, and we are now leading the standings.

This result adds motivation to push even harder in terms of the development of the F2012. We knew that the start would be crucial. I had a good start and was almost alongside Grosjean and Hamilton: the Frenchman and I touched, and for a moment, I was afraid the car was damaged. On the track, overtaking is almost impossible, and being in the slipstream of another can cause temperature problems for the engine and tires. So, you can’t always be on the attack; you have to manage the situation and attack only when it counts, like during pit stops, and that’s what I did. Could I have passed Rosberg and Webber if I had stayed on the track longer? Maybe, but at that moment, it was the right choice to make. I was clearly faster with a clear track ahead of me.

Towards the end, I was a bit worried knowing that Vettel was on super-softs, but fortunately, I was able to easily defend my position. Then, I hoped for rain because I thought it would give me a chance to win, however, in the last five or six laps, I thought it was over because every corner could have been a surprise. In Barcelona, a circuit with fast corners, we were good and this track is slow, so we will see how it goes in Canada, but we hope to confirm on this track the progress made in the last two Grand Prix. Finally, I would like to dedicate this podium to all the victims and their families of the earthquake that hit the Emilia region (in Italy) last week.

Felipe Massa – 6th

« It was a good race. I felt comfortable with the car right from the start of Thursday’s practice. I had good sensations, and it was easier to drive than in previous races. Maybe it depends on the nature of the track or the setup, and we clearly need to analyze everything very carefully to see what we can learn from this weekend. All things considered, I could have achieved a better result, but I’m still happy. It was a very difficult and closely fought race, and I was able to keep pace with the leaders. I’m just sorry I couldn’t do a few laps with a clear track ahead of me when the tires were still competitive.

The start was very good, as was the tire degradation. A driver always wants to do the maximum, so I can’t be thrilled with a sixth place, but these points are very important. I really hope my championship will start now and that from now on, I can always fight at the front, as was the case here in Monaco. We will now go to Monaco, which is a very different track from this one because you need good top speed, but in fact, it’s not very different in terms of settings.