Alonso: finishing is “first priority”

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Fernando Alonso said he though third on the grid was the best he could achieve in the Ferrari today:

For us it was nice qualifying, nice and smooth. In Q1 we were a little bit quicker than we thought, we found the pace straight away with the prime tyre. There remained the doubt about the soft we put on in Q2 but the car was again very quick.

So in Q3 we knew that we had a little possibility, not too much because we know that when we arrive to the crucial moments Red Bull normally are pushing a little bit more and being a little bit quicker than everybody.

So with not too high expectations we went into Q3 to give our maximum again. I think once again P3 was once more our maximum potential today.

Which in a way is very good news because qualifying is not our strongest point of the weekend and here it seems that we are quite close to the Red Bulls so we are looking good for tomorrow.
Fernando Alonso

He said that the most important thing in the race is to ensure he scores more points towards the championship:

I think first of all we need to see the forecast. There’s still some doubts about the rain possibility especially in the morning.

So we need to be very calm. We need to finish the race, that’s the first priority. We have five contenders at the moment. Maybe tomorrow not all of the five finish the race. We cannot be one of those that doesn’t finish because we need to keep scoring points in every race and I’m sure that if we do that we will be very happy tomorrow.
Fernando Alonso

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    23 comments on “Alonso: finishing is “first priority””

    1. We need to finish the race, that’s the first priority.

      Am I to take it that this means Ferrari are concerned about Alonso’s engine?

      1. Possibly. I was surprirsed by that but then he says “Maybe tomorrow not all of the five finish the race” so maybe it’s just because the track is so slippery. I don’t know but another enngine problem would be a diaster.

        1. Its just Alonso downplaying his chances as he usually does. Verbal sandbagging.

          1. … I don’t think Alonso is exactly known for “Verbal sandbagging”… But I agree, He is probably more confident than this article suggests.

          2. Its just PM grasping at any anti-Ferrari straws available. To quote a very wise person:

            “I wish they wouldn’t it was quite confusing! It’s not like they can change things by wishful thinking anyway.”

            1. Are you quoting me? I’ve never been called wise before :) :P Don’t take it away…

            2. Amen to that. You put it so nicely.

        2. Mark is also on his last engine now

      2. i don’t think so, Alonso has already said that if you don’t get any points now – due to either failures or driver’s mistake – you’re out of the game.

      3. @prisonermonkey, Yes,Stafano said they were worried about the only engine Alonso has is the one he is driving.
        However Ferrari have strong engines,and Alonso is a great driver once he settles down.He seems to be over the emotional phase he went through a while back by fixing his sights on the Championship.

        Mark Webber and Alonso seem to be the 2 most mentally determined drivers at the current time.Although “lady Luck” has been with Mark this year on many occasions.. eg the horrific crash.
        I expect every Australian will be glued to their sets for the “High Noon”.

      4. If you’d paused long enough and taken the time to unwrap the Anti-Ferrari scarf that’s wrapped so tightly around your head that it’s cutting off the blood to your brain, you’d be able to read the rest of his sentence, and see that Alonso simply means that his championship hopes can’t afford another DNF.

        1. The above was aimed at Prisoner Monkeys’s oxygen deprived brain.

    2. I think Alonso is aiming for victory tomorrow. I don’t think they have any concerns about his engine and I think he has a real shot of making a move on Vettel on the long straights…

      …then again, maybe he’s a bit nervous of being involved in an overtake situation with Vettel…

      1. I think tomorrow Lewis and Fernando will make up a position or two. It will be a cracker of a race!!!

    3. I think what he meant is that he’s not going to try anything crazy to overtake them, unless there is a real chance of overtaking safely.

    4. An Alonso retirement would be bad for the championship race because it’ll probably be Red Bull all the way from there, unless Hamilton won the race tomorrow too. I mean, I’d rather Webber win than Alonso but having Fernando there makes the whole thing so much more exciting.

    5. Whatever said and done, i dont like a racer who is happy picking up leftovers and hopes to win a championship. he should go for the kill, from his position he should be aiming for nothing less than victory.
      would anyone want jenson to win the championship.., he s happy collecting points and hope for championship.. even by fluke he wins everyone would feel he d not be deserving it.
      Its the same feeling i get about alonso , theres no urge to hit the top everytime he sits in the car for a race., its more like let me collect whatever points i get this race and let me see what happens next race.

      he ll never be in the leagues of micheal or senna .

      1. Speaking and really doing it in the race is completely different. And to win the race, you got to finish it . It doesnt make sense to crash in the first lap in doing some unrealistic move. He always downplays his chances in the press comference but he is a completely different character with the steering wheel in his hand. Its his style and he is much better than Micvhael. I havent seen Senna racing so no comments.
        Every one has a differnt mannerism but it doesnt mean he doesnt care abt win.
        I am 200 % sure that he is thinkin of the victory tomorrow coz he cant afford to finish behind Red BUll.

        1. Ayrton Senna was a different bird. The best there ever was, and also the most reckless. For him it was always all or nothing, he would never settle for less than a victory. Used to bully his rivals, “yield to me or else”, and usually he got away with it. You’d think he believed he had a divine right to win every race.
          And his thing with Alain Prost was way beyond a sport rivalry, he loathed him so mightily it was downright scary.
          Some say Lewis Hamilton is a lot like Ayrton Senna. Well, not quite.

    6. And one more thing, I hate Vettel’s finger.

      1. Glad I’m not the only one. He seems to have taken up Hamilton’s discarded “that’s what I’m talking about” celebration too, which was already awful!

    7. Alonso is right – To win you need to finish.. This championship can still be won by the most consistent driver who finishes on the podium in all the remaining races .. you only need 1 DNF from the top 5 to rule them out of the championship contention
      We’ve seen at least one mistake from all the top 5 drivers that has led to a DNF in the preceding races this season

    8. Well, he was the first on the grid to finish, so he finished first!

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