Alonso expects better start to 2013 after driving F138

2013 F1 season

Posted on

| Written by

Fernando Alonso expects to get his 2013 championship campaign off to a better start than last year after driving the F138 for the first time.

Speaking to media after today’s test he said: “I don’t know how much we’ve found. The feeling is difficult to to compare the cars we should do one lap in last year and one lap in this year.

“The feeling with the car is similar to drive because there is a not a big change in the rules. When you have a big change in the rules, from V10 to V8 or from Michelin to Bridgestone or to Pirelli, there is always a special first day in the car because there is many things to learn, many new things that come to you.

“But when there is a continuation of last year, driver feeling when you jump in the car is more or less similar of last year.

“But I’m sure we will be strong in Australia, that is when we need to be.

“We need to improve what we did last year because obviously it is not enough to finish second, we want to finish first. And as I said before to improve the first part of the year I think it is not going to be too difficult. So we are relatively confident.”

Alonso added the high levels of degradation with the current generation of tyres made it hard to assess performance:

“Obviously we concentrate in our job, we don’t know what the others are doing,” he said. “It’s not maybe the best option to test in winter when you have a tyre that do one lap.

“Because we have so many stuff to test and so many new things that we need to have clear and good information on those parts and you only have one lap to understand what you put in the car because then you are two, four, six seconds off the pace so… it’s the same for everybody so we need to understand these new tyres better than the others, see if we can, and make them last as much as possible.”

2013 F1 season


Browse all 2013 F1 season articles

Image © F1 Fanatic | f1fanatic.co.uk

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

28 comments on “Alonso expects better start to 2013 after driving F138”

  1. Go Fernando the olympian

  2. Well,I hope for better start to the season too. Forza Ferrari!

  3. any way pirelli could produce a tyre specially made for testing (or even practice) a tyre that could last 50 laps with limited degredation? sure the tyre would be especially slow but at least team/drivers could do many consistent laps without having the tyres lose a considerable amount of time every few laps, and in this time where cost cutting in f1 seems to be so important, having one set of tyres they could run for the entire test session might be a good idea?

    1. I don’t think it would be a good idea at all. The reason for testing is for the teams to get to grips with & understand the different components they’ll be using, including tires. They’re not just focusing on lap times & reliability. If they had special testing tires, the teams would show up in Australia on race spec tires & have no clue on degradation, grip levels, how easy/hard they are to “switch on”, balance, etc.

      1. oh sure…but you can dedicate time to understand the race spec tyres, a testing tyre would allow them to work on set-up and updates easier, here alonso was complaining how little time they get to really test things in the car because the tyres go off so quickly, and he isnt the only driver in this pre-season testing to make these kind of complaints, testing isnt all about understanding the tyres, theres other things they want to work on too.

  4. Hm, confident but not too sure its all that much better than at the end of last year then? I guess the car was OK on pace at that time, so it could be enough

  5. I have never heard or read Fernando express confidence in this way… something´s weird here… Not liking it.
    I just hope he´s right and the F138 is a couple of steps forward than what the F2012 was! *crosses fingers*

  6. Well it can’t be worse than last years start.

    1. @nidzovski – it’s possible, they could be on the pace of Caterham! ;) But yes, it’d be hard to top how unstable the F2012 looked through the corners in Australia: I would think that the car would be roughly where last years was in terms of performance at the end of the season relative to the others (so around 3rd fastest).

    2. As I recall, Alonso was leading the championship after 8 races or so, so I’d hardly call that a bad start.

      1. @andae23 – I for one when referring to the start of the season mean only the first 4 races (obviously excluding Malaysia as they were adverse circumstances). Discounting that, he scored 18 points; a decent haul but not emphatically so (for example Button scored 43 points in those three races, again discounting Malaysia due to the adverse circumstances).

        1. I agree Max Jacobson.

      2. After 8 races it’s not a start :). And I was talking about THE start, first race, nearly one second of the pace. It was a steady and on the knife drive from Alonso that kept the championship chances alive. And dumb McLaren :)

        1. @nidzovski

          And I was talking about THE start, first race, nearly one second of the pace.

          In Q2, Alonso was fifth fastest when he spun the car into the gravel trap, creating that one second gap to pole-sitter Hamilton. He still managed to finish that race in fifth place, a rough twenty second behind Button. It really wasn’t that bad!

          1. @andae23
            Personally I don’t even like Alonso, especially his politics by saying that he has the slowest car but he and his team will win..bla bla, but I’m sure that F2012 was slower than a bunch of teams at the begining of the season. However this is a different starting position. The new cars are almost evolution of last years cars meaning Ferrari are better placed than’012. Nevermind that, it’s testing so this doesn’t mean anything :)

          2. @nidzovski Funny, now I agree with every single sentence you wrote :)

          3. :) peace man :)

      3. Because of luck and others misfortunes, how did Alonso to lost his 40 point lead ?, lol

  7. Alonso does not sound very optimistic yet:

    “I don’t know how much we’ve found.

    “But I’m sure we will be strong in Australia, that is when we need to be.

    “And as I said before to improve the first part of the year I think it is not going to be too difficult. So we are relatively confident.”

    and degradation is horrendous:
    “…and you only have one lap to understand what you put in the car because then you are two, four, six seconds off the pace so… ”

    So basically he’s pinning his hope on not starting with a dog of a car this year. Of course that may be enough; on the other hand, if all other teams up their game, having a midfield car may not be enough anymore to break free of the midfield.

  8. I think at the end of last year, Ferrari had the third fastest car, behind Red Bull and McLaren. Alonso explains that the rules are very similar to last year, and therefore we should expect to see the same pecking order this year as it was at the end of 2012.

    From Ferrari’s point of view, I don’t know is this really is the year they should be focussing on: it will be pretty much impossible for them to catch up with Red Bull’s pace and outscore them. 2014 will be a big year for them, as they are the only team of the ‘big three’ that is an engine supplier (though Red Bull is practically Renault’s team now that Lotus has gone their own way). As I understand, they are already very far in their 2014 car’s design. And if Red Bull would have to fight for the 2013 championship with McLaren, this could play well in the hands of Ferrari.

    So according to that, Alonso will not win his (long overdue) third title this year, but he will certainly be in contention for 2014!

    1. According to your opinion, not the one to Alonso
      Who had the fastest car we will see in the first 2-3 races. Ferrari had the best car till Silverston last year but things changed in favor for red bull…why things can’t change in favor for ferrari now??

      I dont know who will win the title but as a ferrari fan i have more hopes this year then the last 3 years.
      Ferrari seems different compared to last year’s (i’m not convinced is a evolution of F2012 as they try to sell that to us…)

      1. According to your opinion, not the one to Alonso

        First part of my quote I got from the article, second was from an interview with Alonso a few weeks ago. So it definitely is Alonso’s opinion.

        Ferrari seems different compared to last year’s (i’m not convinced is a evolution of F2012 as they try to sell that to us…)

        It definitely is an evolution. I admit, the visually striking parts such as the nose and rear wing look different, but I can assure you the F138 is an evolution.

        1. Ferrari had the best car till Silverston last year but things changed in favor for red bull…

          No they didn’t.

          Red Bull were faster in Australia, China, Bahrain, and Europe.
          They were equal in Monaco, Canada and Great Britain.
          Ferrari were only ahead in Malaysia and Spain, and the latter is debatable.

        2. @andae23
          Which part of your quote is from the article?…In the article is described only what Alonso has said…and is not even nearly to what u say.
          I have read his declaration in English, Italian, French and nowhere close to what u said, and the article well represented what he said.
          Where is this interview with Alonso when he said that we will not fight for the title this year so better focus in 2014??
          I’m pretty sure i have never and ever miss a winter interview from a Ferrari driver since 1996 and i never and ever hear a Ferrari driver said we will not fight for the title in the winter. NEVER but give me a source maybe i miss something…

          So is definitely your opinion! But how can we even imagine Alonso says we will not fight for the title especially when Ferrari spend 600 million $ to build and run their cars. I Never and ever imagine a Ferrari driver says we will not fight for the title in the winter session…simply he will be fired. Even Massa says every year he will fight for the title.

          “It definitely is an evolution. I admit, the visually striking parts such as the nose and rear wing look different, but I can assure you the F138 is an evolution.”

          Unless u work for Ferrari and provide us with reliable data, then u can prove it and guarantee that is and evolution.
          I personally don’t buy what Ferrari engineers have said..not only ferrari engineer but the others also…i have learned this through the years i don’t trust them.
          From the visible point of view Ferrari has changed all the suspension, the exhaust, the diffuser, the center of the car, rear and front wing…as they have said the gearbox has changed…etc.
          I personally believe that Ferrari and Lotus are not exactly an evolution, maybee revolution is not the right word to say…but not an evolution. This is my opinion.

          There is nothing wrong by having your opinion, and you have the opinion that ferrari will not fight for the title. Well i respect that but i think is wrong and i disagree.

          @kingshark
          I mad an error in expression I wanted to say that Ferrari had out develop everyone
          till Silverstone, because they had made an incredible step from Australia to England.
          But yeah you’re right.

  9. What is that on the left side of the car beside the driver looks more like a fish gill

    1. Air outlets: most teams don’t bother to divert this air to the main cooling outlet at the back of the car.

    2. @dexterous I looked at the left side for like 5 second….. You meant right side.

  10. A little bit cautious comments from him but I understand how Ferrari have underachieved for last 3 years.

Comments are closed.