Fernando Alonso says he wants to repeat Michael Schumacher’s feat of winning the world championship in his fifth season for Ferrari.
“I think Schumacher win in the fifth year with Ferrari. I’m in the fifth year now so hopefully I can repeat some of the success that he had,” said Alonso. Schumacher Schumacher joined Ferrari in 1996 and took until 2000 to win the title.
“Obviously in the last four years we had some opportunities, especially in 2010, 2012, we were very, very close to winning the championship,” Alonso added. “So this year we’ll try again and hopefully this time will be a good one.”
Alonso admitted the arrival of 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen makes for a strong line-up at the team this year.
“I think Kimi and me as a team we should be quite strong in the paper because we’ve had some success in the past in the Formula One career.
“But this you need to discover, every year we start from zero. If we do well we will have a very strong team, we can deliver some good results for Ferrari. If we don’t do good enough some other team will have another best pairing drivers. So it’s up to us to deliver and do a good job.”
“I think in 2014 the Formula One will change a lot with the new regulations,” he added. “That will take also some implications from the driving styles so definitely I’m looking forward to discover this new Formula One.”
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Image © Ferrari/Ercole Colombo
Sam (@)
25th January 2014, 13:58
If the Ferrari is a title challenger all the way, I hope Kimi does it.
Aditya (@adityafakhri)
25th January 2014, 14:00
Kimi Raikkonen also wants to re-emulate his championship title in ‘first year’ with Ferrari
Roger Williams
25th January 2014, 15:30
Already done in 2007
bull mello (@bullmello)
25th January 2014, 17:12
Now, that makes sense!
Patrick (@paeschli)
25th January 2014, 17:48
Bouya! :D
f1whisperer
27th January 2014, 18:04
Like
Nick (@npf1)
25th January 2014, 14:02
I hope that, unlike the past 2 seasons, he and the car don’t take a nosedive (no punintended) at the end of the season..
mnmracer (@mnmracer)
26th January 2014, 4:19
That nose can’t really get any lower, now can it?
Eggry (@eggry)
25th January 2014, 14:10
Please…
venom (@venom)
25th January 2014, 14:22
seems they ran out of carbon fibre in Maranello, and did a scrappy nose job.
Abrecht
25th January 2014, 14:27
His statements get sillier every day. As somebody who’s not particularly a fan of Alonso, these last years have been a delight in terms of what comes out of his mouth.
You can almost taste the frustration coming out from his pores!
bananarama (@bananarama)
25th January 2014, 15:13
They could have given Alonso a cap that fits his head.
Anyone remember the good old days when Ferrari did a car presentation and then Schumacher would get on stage and say “this is the prettiest Ferrari I’ve ever seen”. Yeah, not this time (regulations haven’t brought us many beautiful ones in the last years). Yet, seeing it in this video, I think it looks much more acceptable than in the pictures.
George O'Donnell (@georgeod)
25th January 2014, 16:02
Great story! Alternatively, Fernando wants to win the championship this year. Very surprising!
OmarR-Pepper (@)
25th January 2014, 16:09
@georgeod Fernando, and Sebastian, and Kimi, and Daniel and Kevin….(put all the others’ names here) and Kamui.
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
25th January 2014, 16:40
My bets are that it will be between Rosberg, Hamilton and Vettel for the title. And now that won’t even be close.
Alec (@vonhoff)
25th January 2014, 18:21
Is that in order of preference @vettel1 ?
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
25th January 2014, 20:38
@vonhoff in a way, yes – I would love to see Vettel win a fifth but as an impartial fan and assuming Mercedes will be competitive as tipped, I’d rather Rosberg won.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
26th January 2014, 3:01
@vettel1
Why Vettel but not Alonso or anyone else? Assuming that Mercedes is a beast.
BasCB (@bascb)
26th January 2014, 14:50
I agree, that would be far more interesting a season. It would mean Rosberg steps up and improves, making it a better and more competitive field altogether. And it would be great to then see Hamilton have to fight from a disadvantage next year, see Vettel want to take the title back and see what happens with Alonso @vettel1!
TheBass (@)
25th January 2014, 17:06
He did look sad in the video. There again, that has been his constant face for the past couple of years.
Since I can’t say I like him, I find it kinda funny.
bull mello (@bullmello)
25th January 2014, 17:12
Who cares what year it is? Just win!
Todfod (@todfod)
25th January 2014, 19:57
I really hope Fernando has a car capable of matching Red Bull and Mercedes this year. Can’t see Vettel or Hamilton beating Fernando this year unless they have significantly better machinery
Max Jacobson (@vettel1)
25th January 2014, 20:40
Why would they need significantly better machinery @todfod? Both are class drivers and few would question you if you were to say Vettel is the best driver in F1 at the moment on the basis of last season.
Todfod (@todfod)
25th January 2014, 20:45
@vettel1
I knew that this statement would get a reply from you ;)
I’ve seen Vettel beat Alonso by the skin of his teeth in superior machinery, so in relatively equal machinery, I’m convinced Alonso would beat him.
Then again I’m sure you will say the opposite. So lets just hope we get some equal machinery this year to see how things pan out
TheBass (@)
25th January 2014, 21:36
Please. In 2012, in the races when neither of them had external influences (mechanical failures, strategy errors, etc etc) Vettel beat Alonso confortably once the Red Bull was actually superior (in Asia). If it wasn’t by Abu Dhabi’s qualy issue, Senna hitting Vettel, the team putting him wrong tyres and Hulkenerg taking out Hamilton, the difference would have been much bigger than “the skin of his teeth”.
Alonso drove superbly in 2012, but to believe that the championship ended that close JUST because his skills magically made up for the performance difference is being irrational.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
26th January 2014, 3:00
@silence
You’re saying that the Red Bull was only superior in Asia? Nonsense.
Red Bull was superior in Australia, China, Bahrain, Monaco, Hungary, and every race Singapore-onward. That is 12 races.
Ferrari was better in Malaysia, Spain, and Monza. That’s only 3 races.
In 4 races – Canada, Silverstone, Germany, and Belgium – RBR and Ferrari were equal.
Despite that, Vettel beat Alonso by the skin of his teeth. Alonso was heads and shoulders above Vettel in 2012.
Todfod (@todfod)
26th January 2014, 7:22
@silence
Get your facts straight. The Red Bull was quicker than the Ferrari at every circuit that year. Except for Monza maybe
TheBass (@)
26th January 2014, 10:09
@kingshark
Just like Massa has performed exactly as good as Webber, right? Kinda funny how you all your unpopular opinions are always hardwired to make Alonso look better :)
TheBass (@)
26th January 2014, 10:13
@todfod If you want to see what happens when the Red Bull is actually superior, see 2013. Even the first half, when they were much more evenly matched than ever, and still Vettel left to the summer pause 40 points ahead.
Todfod (@todfod)
26th January 2014, 14:10
Well I could pull more instances to prove my point as well.. like most of 2010 and 2012
cjpdk (@cjpdk)
25th January 2014, 21:17
Is this Alonso’s excuse for not winning the championship in the last 7 years?
toiago (@toiago)
25th January 2014, 23:33
He’s just trying to be positive about it.
Todfod (@todfod)
26th January 2014, 14:12
@cjpdk
Who said anything about excuses??
He’s just trying to see the silver lining in an underperforming team
cjpdk (@cjpdk)
29th January 2014, 10:47
@todford
I’ll be honest, it was intended as a joke, albeit a mean-spirited one
Cristian (@theseeker)
25th January 2014, 21:32
Fernando, Michael was also champion in the other 4 seasons…
Dave (@)
26th January 2014, 11:13
You talking about 96, 97, 98 and 99?
Todfod (@todfod)
26th January 2014, 14:13
You mean the ones that followed ? 2001 , 02 , 03 , 04
Well having a dominant car makes it a whole lot easier.. what do you think?