Sunday: Alonso and Ferrari More Motivated Than Ever

Fernando Alonso – 3rd:

« It was a difficult race and, by the end of the weekend, I am happy with how things turned out. I started from the dirty side of the track, we had doubts about the tire life and what the pace of our rivals would be. With all these questions, managing to reach the podium means I can breathe a sigh of relief. It’s true that the Red Bull cars were the fastest all weekend, but our goal was to be right behind them, and we succeeded. It’s also true that I’m no longer the championship leader, but being six points behind means nothing, just as being four points ahead meant nothing before this race. It’s also very significant to see that we are back in second place in the constructors’ championship, as it shows that the team is competitive and this will be our strength until the end of the season.

Being in this position having been ejected from two of the last four races means a lot. There are a hundred points still up for grabs, and everything will depend on how we can improve our car for the upcoming races. Here, we were closer to the lead than in Singapore or Suzuka, so we must continue in this direction.

Regarding Vettel’s three consecutive victories, well, he and Red Bull have had three perfect weekends, so congratulations for that, but when everything goes so well for so long, inevitably, sooner or later, something goes wrong. We are in the title fight with a car that has never been the fastest. It seems that we are capable of doing something good too, don’t you think?

Felipe Massa – 4th:

« After Suzuka, it was another fantastic race for me. I managed to keep an excellent pace from start to finish. I expected this because, on Friday, I noticed that during the long stints the car responded very well. It’s true that you can never be certain of how things will play out during a race, but everything went smoothly. I always managed to extract 100% from the car, and I’m delighted about that. It was important to pass Kimi and then Hamilton because after that, I was able to drive at my own pace. In the end, I was close to Fernando but attacking him was never a question: I understand the importance of every point in the title race.

The whole team is doing its best to help Fernando, and I’m here for him, just as the team was there for me when I was in the same situation. In this second part of the season, I’ve probably figured out the best way to drive this car with these tires: now I’m having fun and it’s good to push as much as possible when I’m in the cockpit.

Maybe there’s a bit of pressure about my future at play, but at some point, I told myself that I shouldn’t think too much about it and probably that approach helped. I feel stronger and when you love what you do, that’s the best. Between here and India, there’s a lot of work to improve the car, especially in qualifying. Hopefully, the improvements will give us a little something extra, which could be decisive in the title fight.