Sunday: Alonso wins, Massa finishes on the podium

Fernando Alonso – 1st:

« Even though it’s the third time I’ve won a home race, the emotion is always very intense, as if it had never happened before. It’s nice to be able to offer this victory to all of Spain, especially at a time when the country is in crisis and for many people, it’s not possible to come here to show their support. I thank everyone for this support and the team for doing a fantastic job. After a far from easy qualifying session, everything went perfectly, the start, the strategy, the pit stops, tire management. At the start, I had to gain a few places but after passing the middle of the straight, there was no more room to do it. So I turned off the KERS, to be able to use it at turn 3, where I realized, after watching the GP2 race, that it was possible to attack on the outside. We had to anticipate our last stop due to a slow puncture which meant the left rear tire was losing pressure in the last part of the lap, but fortunately, it did not impact the final outcome. I think with this car, we can fight for the world championship because in five races, we’ve finished second once and won twice. From there, we need to achieve consistent results and score as many points as possible because we are aware of not being the fastest and to change that, many people are working day and night on the Grand Prix and in Maranello. »

Felipe Massa – 3rd:

I am really very happy with this podium. It was a very beautiful race, and it’s a fantastic result for the whole team. When you start a bit further back, everything is more complicated, but I managed to get off to a good start and immediately had a very good pace. On the first lap, I was able to make a few overtakes thanks to the competitiveness of the car, which meant I could be aggressive right away while being careful with my tires. Towards the end, I thought it would be possible to fight with Kimi, but when I put on my last set of hard tires, which we thought would be the most suitable because they were new, I had oversteer and started to lose the rear earlier than I expected. Nevertheless, I am delighted with our performance on this track. Now, we’re heading to Monaco, a completely different track where overtaking is very difficult. We know we don’t have the fastest car, but all we can do is continue working as hard because I am convinced we are heading in the right direction.