Fernando Alonso says it is in his hands to win the world championship in this weekend’s race at Abu Dhabi.
Arriving at the final race of the season with an eight-point lead over Mark Webber, Alonso said:
Our approach hasn’t changed for this all-important race: we know that if we get everything perfectly right, then we will have the chance to reach the target that we set ourselves at the beginning of the season.
The Interlagos result allows us to be in charge of our own destiny: with a win or a second place we won’t need any more calculations. We can do it, even if we know our principal opponents are very strong: so far, perhaps apart from one race, theirs has been the best car on every type of circuit.
That still doesn’t mean we expect to be beaten – anything but.
Fernando Alonso
He has already begun his preparations for this weekend’s race:
I arrived in Abu Dhabi yesterday evening, straight from Sao Paulo in Brazil. It was a long flight but I still managed to rest. Then I made a quick trip to the circuit where I met the team and fitted in a lap of the track on a bicycle.
This evening, after taking part in an event organised by our partner Shell, I visited Ferrari World Abu Dhabi, the theme park dedicated to Maranello that towers next to the circuit.
The structure already dominated the view last year but to see it finished offers another impression altogether. Inside you can really live the emotion of a day inside the Ferrari world, from the speed of Formula 1 to the style and technology of the road cars.
From tomorrow we will concentrate totally on preparation for this race. We are at the final round of a season that will remain wonderful whatever happens. We aim to complete it in the best way – and rest assured we’ll be giving everything to achieve it.
Fernando Alonso
2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Lamo2741
10th November 2010, 16:41
And who would of thought that Fernando would be in this position when they all left Silverstone!
Butterfly
10th November 2010, 16:51
Well, he did, probably. :)
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
10th November 2010, 16:54
People who:
a) noticed how much quicker the F10 became after they put the EBD on at Valencia; and
b) understood the new points system.
Luib
10th November 2010, 17:08
Yes, Ferrari was not the only one to developed the EBD other teams did it too. What is impressive how quickly and successfully they developed it ( See Monza).
What do you mean “understood the new points system”? are alluding to the Hockneim controversy,again?
Cacarella
10th November 2010, 17:44
If I may…
I think he’s referring to the fact that
also knew that Alonso still had a good shot at the title after Silverstone.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
10th November 2010, 22:15
Exactly.
Hallard
10th November 2010, 21:34
One could easily be impressed by how quickly and succesfully they adopted the EBD, but then you consider that they used a “promotional filming day” to test it on their car prior to bringing it to a grand prix weekend. I guess F1 is all about exploiting loopholes though…
Tom
11th November 2010, 3:10
If only Mclaren tested there new parts on film days they might actually work and this title battle would be even closer.
Lee
10th November 2010, 21:35
the beauty of ferraris EBD was that they started simple and built it up over a few races, mclaren and others made the mistake of turning up with a fully functioning (or so they thought) version and ended up back at the drawing board. Great development from ferrari.
Cube
10th November 2010, 22:22
May I ask what an EBD is? I hate it when people shorten things down like that…
Rob Haswell
10th November 2010, 22:27
Exhaust Blown Diffuser – Red Bull special method of channelling exhaust gases through the diffuser to generate more downforce. Also part of the technique is energising air around the rear tyres, reducing drag.
Luib
10th November 2010, 22:56
Ferrari developed the EBD during races. In fact Martin Brundle interviewed Stefano Domenicali and suggested, from the on board camera sequence, that Alonso was driving the car without holding the steering wheel when testing manually the new diffuser.
SD was pist off by MB’s suggestion.
That happened in a couple pre-qualifying sections.
VXR
10th November 2010, 17:20
I don’t think that he was thinking about points when he got mugged by that Sauber at the last corner. Ouch! That one could come back to haunt you!
Probably not paying enough attention because his nemesis had gotten off lightly with just a drive through earlier on. Lewis got into his head on that day I can tell you!
VXR
10th November 2010, 17:25
Kind of made up for the Monaco debacle….almost.
VXR
10th November 2010, 17:27
Just waiting for something to make up for the Germany debacle now. LOL
chemakal
10th November 2010, 20:13
The SC in Valencia with Hams move holding Alo up has made up more than enough for Germany. He should have scored 15 points on that race at least. Take off 7 from Germany and do the maths…
Enigma (@enigma)
10th November 2010, 22:23
Alonso was still very much in the contention after Silverstone. He had a fast car and all he needed was the end of bad luck (Valencia, Silverstone) and mistakes at wrong times (Monaco, Istanbul).
Tom
11th November 2010, 3:12
Murray Walker did, straight after on his bbc blog he said Alonso would win, so i put money on him at 16/1 not enough
DeadManWoking
10th November 2010, 16:52
Fernando Did, and he was 47 points out at the time!
LewisC
10th November 2010, 17:52
AKA just under two wins. And he’s won four races since then…
JonZ
10th November 2010, 16:53
RB as a team also is in charge of his own destiny, but Vettel and Webber as drivers aren’t.
MahavirS
10th November 2010, 17:01
You cant deny the fact that ferrari have improved the car much more than any other team on the grid. Its not just a one off thing of team orders that has got Alonso to where he is now. I remember the team saying that if the German or British GP i think, dint go well then they would stop development of the car. To be fair to Alonso, he has taken advantage of the situations around him and driven each race with all the permutations in mind.
BBT
10th November 2010, 19:03
Yes you can… ;-)
They have done a good job, maybe the best but they had a car that in pre-session testing look a very close match to RBR… to be honest the fly aways were a lottery and then Ferrari had some really bad luck mid-season.
They’ve had the best car on tyres all season and you could argue that there race pace apart from one or two race was a match for RBR all session as well…. a bit of bad luck skewed it a bit.
BBT
10th November 2010, 19:04
balls… where is the edit button when you need it?
djdaveyp
10th November 2010, 17:13
I hope his engine blows up in practice so he gets a ten place grid penalty. Then I hope his new one blows up in the race!
Ral
10th November 2010, 17:19
Yup, and I hope both the RBR engines blow up and Hamilton’s as well.
:rolleyes:
VXR
10th November 2010, 17:22
I hope the security is tight there because it seems like we’re going to be in for lots of explosions!?
Cacarella
10th November 2010, 17:46
I hope everything blows up real good!
Yeeeeee Haaaawwwww!!!!!
VXR
10th November 2010, 17:51
Well, if they all blow up, then that just hands the title to Alonso. But at least he’ll be more than 7 points ahead, so that we can all get some sleep here in the UK on Sunday night.
djdaveyp
10th November 2010, 18:12
Theres 25 illegalpoints on his tally. The points should have been stripped
VXR
10th November 2010, 18:47
OK. It looks like you’re all in for a long night then.
Anthony
10th November 2010, 19:21
If they are illegal then how come they haven’t been stripped?
And forget Hockenheim already…..
Todfod (@todfod)
11th November 2010, 7:16
Why dont we just strip all his points?… just because djdaveyp said so.
Ed
11th November 2010, 9:14
LOL! Thanks VXR
sumedh
10th November 2010, 17:20
I was wondering why Alonso became all philosophical suddenly.
But this is a markedly different attitude that Ferrari are taking here compared to the previous 4-5 weekends. At Brazil, talk was about being cautious, at Korea, he talked about the importance of finishing the race. Alonso and Ferrari have always downplayed themselves before every weekend. But not this time though. It seems that they really want to play the psychological game against Vettel and Webber this time.
Ed
11th November 2010, 9:16
But sumedh, they should not calculate any more… It is just one more race and they must just win the WDC… I do not understand you
Calum
10th November 2010, 17:51
lol if Hamilton won the race with all 3 of the “realistic” contenders failing to score.
VXR
10th November 2010, 18:01
I have a feeling that mechanical failure, even before qualifying begins, will be a deciding factor in the WDC.
OEL
10th November 2010, 20:33
As in Vettel’s engine blows from 2nd, Webber wins from Alonso who becomes champion and everyone asks why Red Bull didn’t let Webber pass Vettel in Brazil.
Brian T Lewis
10th November 2010, 18:09
don’t want alonso to win. I still feel Ham has a chance, an incident between Web and Alo and Vet being stuck in 4th will result in Ham winning the title, provided he is first. Just cant see alonso having a perfect race. Just too much could happen.
LewisAint
11th November 2010, 1:13
Alonso will win, maybe. Lewis will lose, almost definitely.
infy (@infy)
10th November 2010, 18:25
I cant help but wonder if Ferrari think the upgrade they are bringing to Abu is going to put them ahead.
VXR
10th November 2010, 18:37
Are machine guns actually allowed in the current regulations?
Mach1
10th November 2010, 20:01
I would go for the oil slick…
Steve W
10th November 2010, 21:07
Hopefully not the ejector seat….otherwise!
dyslexicbunny
11th November 2010, 4:52
I’d take the red or blue shells.
Vincent1972
11th November 2010, 5:39
include metal spikes and flame throwers
BBT
10th November 2010, 19:25
Still got my fingers crossed for…
P - Drv - Pts - Gap
1 - ALO - 258 - x
2 - VET - 256 - 2
3 - WEB - 253 - 5
4 - HAM - 240 - 18
5 - BUT - 209 - 49
Both RBR with 7 pts that would be funny, and it can happen with a realistic result… I think it was VET HAM WEB ALO BUT
chemakal
10th November 2010, 20:22
Add 15 points Alo should have scored in Valencia…
chemakal
10th November 2010, 20:24
don’t forget to add 15 points Alo got stolen in Valencia thx to Hams move with the SC
BBT
10th November 2010, 21:22
What are you talking about? I’m saying I’d like to see Alonso to win it. Don’t start talking cr@p about ifs and maybes, what happened, happened get over it.
You’ll be adding on points for Canada as well next and not being able to get past back markers.
Lets add some points on that Webber (in your world) robbed from Hamilton in Oz and Singapore or a Mclaren mechanical robbed from Button in Monaco or the fragile Red Bull robbed from Vettel or Vettel robbed from Webber by crashing into him… etc, etc.
PS Ferrari, as far as I know are the only ones to plan and purposely to break the rules… fact!
I don’t really have a problem with that but there are many that do.
Tom
11th November 2010, 3:07
Webber hit in to Ham in Aus so Ham lost third place. Webber not good under pressure.
chemakal
11th November 2010, 13:06
I’m just sick of the 7 points comments, that if Alo makes it with less than 7 points difference he will not deserve the tittle, and so on…
Don’t compare the race in Valencia with crashes between drivers, that is cr@p. In Valencia: Hams “fair game” intentionally breaking so the Ferraris got stuck behind the SC (see poll in this blog) together with Mr. Whting’s wise decission to wait over 20 laps for Hams penalty makes more than up for the 7 points in Hockenheim
PS: the Mclaren spygate is a fact!
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
10th November 2010, 22:18
A McLaren in front of a Red Bull hasn’t looked realistic for a while.
Mach1
10th November 2010, 20:05
It would be hilarious if vettel is first and webber is second and alsonso is in 4th or something (which means he (alonso) would still win). So Vettel moves over for webber on the final lap….however just before webber crosses the line alonso’s engine goes!!! How livid would vettel be!!!
JonZ
10th November 2010, 21:08
Another scenario. In the last lap, Vettel is first, Webber is second, Hamilton third, Button fourth, Alonso fifth. And Webber stops his car deliberately before finish line. Why? Revenge, a misanderstunding during the race, stress, a broken radio.. Hilarius? Not too much. Possible? Remotely, but possible. I think Webber is very proffesional, but there are things that only happens once in a life. Everithing can happen. And sometimes is better not to happen too much.
aNT366
10th November 2010, 20:11
RACIG: Fernando 2 º. End of story
CMD: ALO WCC
VXR
10th November 2010, 20:31
Finishing order: Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Button, Alonso.
Vettel, Alonso and Webber all finish on 256 points. Vettel wins championship because he has a better 4th place result over Alonso.
That would just be awesome!…for some.
djdaveyp
10th November 2010, 22:10
Also Ferrari’s EBD wouldn’t have been developed as fast if they didn’t do their loophole/illegal mid-season test.
Gill
11th November 2010, 3:32
Get a life djdashfds something….
Had that being illegal, FIA would surely have taken sme action. They are allowed to do straighht line testing and some advertisement shoot.
teeb1256789
10th November 2010, 23:17
Could anyone else imagine this situation in Abu Dhabi:
5 Laps to go
Alonso: 1st
Hamilton: 2nd
Webber & Vettel: both crash/DNF from engine failure
Could we see a Schumi-esque move from Hamilton to take out Alonso for 1st place + the championship? If he is close enough to Alonso, should Hamilton consider a move like this or gracefully accept defeat
(PS- I am great supporter of Hamilton, Webber and Alosno so this isn’t a jibe at any of the teams)
Ricky Bobby
11th November 2010, 0:24
HAM would need to take out ALO, _and_ go on and win. Very tricky, the Schumi-Senna-Prost way was simpler: crash into the other guy and get a DNF for both. But that would do HAM no good. Also, the McL has proved to be much more fragile than the Ferrari in colisions this year.
VXR
11th November 2010, 1:31
Still worth a punt if you don’t want Alonso to win anyway.
Hamish
11th November 2010, 2:27
Just, more like probably, the race will be determined in qualifying, and in the first corner, as is the norm in the sport these days. Given that, disregarding reliability factors Red Bull will lock out the front row, race ahead, turn down the engines and do the old switcharoo.
It will not rain in Adu Dhabi and it is a concrete jungle, so the chances of a safety car are minimal.
El Abuelo
11th November 2010, 2:44
one i like:
Ham 1st
Vet, 3rd
Web, 6th
Alo, 10th
alo 247 5 2
ham 247 4 4
web 246 4 4
vet 246 4 2
Tom
11th November 2010, 3:01
Is that the Exhaust Blown Diffuser that Ferrari tested on a film day? If only Mclaren tested there new parts on film days they might actually work and this title battle would be even closer.
U2
11th November 2010, 6:25
Okay ..
Here’s a Q for Keith
In the event of someone deliberately colliding into a front runner, how harsh can the penalties be if proven guilty especially as this is the final deciding race for the WDC
probable scenario – some one who is not in championship contention i.e. button nudging alonso to allow someone else to claim the title or massa getting involved in a shunt with webber
Quietus
11th November 2010, 7:56
Alonso MUST take pole to make things easier for himself
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
11th November 2010, 8:18
Right, if he stays on 4th or second then life will be very difficult for him on the dirty side of the track.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
11th November 2010, 8:17
Am I right that EBD is banned in 2011? Secondly all he needs to make sure that he finishes second,it’s his championship to loose.
BBT
11th November 2010, 12:38
No, the double diffuser is banned not the EBD unless I’ve missed something
Tom
11th November 2010, 14:39
I reckon Ferrari could get pole, did you see the straightline speed advantage Alonso had over Hamilton in Brazil. Oo