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We are almost at the half of the F1 World Championship and for Ferrari the balance is definitely negative. The second place of Fernando Alonso in Monte-Carlo is the best result of a season to forget, with race strategy turned up to be wrong every time that there was a possibility to take the Ferrari on the podium. Despite this, the Spanish never gave up and he always looked to the next race with excitement. So, after he threw away the result at the Canadian Grand Prix, Fernando heads straight to the European Grand Prix that will be held in his Spain, in Valencia. Maybe it’s time to add a new “first time” to this story. And then he already won, two times, the European Grand Prix, when the race was held at the Nurburgring: in Italy they say good things come in three.
"Valencia is a city to which I am particularly attached and it's becoming a sort of symbolic place in the history of my relationship with Ferrari. It was just here in Cheste that I made my first public appearance after I signed my first contract with Ferrari, during the Ferrari Days of 2009 and, on that track, I officially drived my first Ferrari of Formula 1, the 3 February of last year. It's a big date for the Ferrari and for me, that I will have another opportunity to drive in front of my fans".
It goes on the Spanish:
"To say the truth I’ve never been tooo lucky since this race took place in the city circuit of Valencia, especially last year when, despite a very competitive car, I ended at the eighth place. But everyone remembers what happened with the exit on track of the Safety-Car and it’s not worth going back to it. I always have the idea that bad luck and luck will compensate at the end of the season and maybe this law is also true for the tracks: so I’d likethat what this fate has been taken away from us last year turns back to us. After all, also in this start of the season it seems that the fate is not favourable to us: in Montreal, during the race, everything’s gone sideways".
About the European Grand Prix, November 23 2010, the Spanish daily El Periòdico announced that the city of Valencia was no longer willing to pay annual costs for the organisation of the Grand Prix. The contract with the FOM includes that the Grand Prix is ensured until the 2014, but Francisco Camps, the president of the Valenciana Community, had pointed out that the annual expenses for the Grand Prix amounted to 48.000.000 €, while the receipts were only 10.000.000 €, and how the spectators have gone from 112.000 of the 2008 to the 75.000 of the 2010. The possibility to close, indeed before the contract, are excluded by Bernie Ecclestone. Valencia can get rid of the Grand Prix only by proposing an option. About this are channelled discussions, both with the circuit of Portimão, in Portugal, and with the circuit of Alcañaz in Aragon. Few days after the claims of Francisco Camps, Paula Sánchez de León, spokesperson for the Valencian Government, claimed that there were no changes in the tender’s performance and how the contract would be respected at least until its natural end. The presence of the Grand Prix in Valencia was subsequently questioned by the same Bernie Ecclestone, both for the lack of spectacle of the track and for the presence, in Spain, of another Grand Prix. Ecclestone has often stated that the same state can’t host two Grand Prix in the same season. But, Jorge Martínez Aspar, organizer of the Valencia Grand Prix, said that he is confident on keeping the race:
"We have a contract till the 2014 and an option to extend it till the 2019".
And he found support from the president of the Spanish Automobile Federation, Carlos Gracia, that assured on the permanence of two races on his land:
"These two Grand Prix have contracts, are in order with the payment and they want to respect them. Maybe we need to modify the date of the races, because the actual dates are too close but the Spain can easily host two Grand Prix".
Talking about the future, the F1 Commission proposes the introduction, in Formula 1, of turbo engines V6 from 2014. Bernie Ecclestone called, for Wednesday June 22 2011, a meeting of the F1 Commision at the airport of Heathrow. On the agenda there is the opposition to the introduction of the engines with four cylinders turbo wanted by Jean Todt for the 2013, at the moment both Ecclestone and the motorists Ferrari, Mercedes and Cosworth were against it. According to the opinion of Ecclestone, Todt introduced improperly the rules on four cylinders as it did not consult the F1 Commission and according to the alternative proposal the use of current V8 in Formula 1 till the 2013 and then move in 2014 to a F1 with engines of 1.6 litres turbo six cylinders. Also the Renault, that made the essential condition for his stay in F1 the arrival of the new engines four cylinders, at the end they accepted the proposal of the V6 turbo. The new proposal will be voted on Monday via fax by the World Council of the Motorsport. In the meantime, the circus arrives in Valencia for the European Grand Prix, scheduled on Sunday June 26 2011. Felipe Massa is back on the track where he won in 2008:
"The city circuit of Valencia brings me to mind good memories, related to the victory that I conquered in the first edition, in 2008. Then I had to skip the race the next year, but last year I was still competitive until the well known episode of the Safety Car. So there are good reasons to make another good weekend and the high temperatures could help the F150 to make the tires work well".
The Brazilian driver come back to talk about the disappointing Canadian Grand Prix:
"Today I arrived in Valencia (Wednesday June 22 2011) after I stayed, for over a week, in São Paulo, where I went after the end of the Canadian Grand Prix where the Saturday was so promising and Sunday so delusional. Luckily in a Formula 1 season like this one, that is so full, you don’t have to wait so much time to try again and this is the goal that I have for the European Grand Prix".
Compared to the past, this year should be less difficult to overtake during the race, as confirmed by the same Massa:
"One of the criticisms that were done about this track was about the problems to overtake the other cars but this year, thanks to the DRS, the situation should be different, also because, as it happened in Canada, there will be two zones where the system can be used. As always, you need to find the best competitiveness of the car, otherwise you will risk to lose positions: in the past, with a slower car you could try to make a gap and to defend at all costs but now it’s not possible anymore".
In Valencia is scheduled the debut of the Pirelli Medium. The new tires, already tests in the winter tests, it could help:
"Another interesting factor will be the tires. Here the Pirelli will be debuting the Medium while the second choice will be the well known Soft. For me it’s a very similar tyre to the Hard that we had at the start of the season: after a few races the Pirelli decided to change this last one, making it even more harder. The team worked a lot to improve the behaviour of the car with the harder tires: we are gonna try with a modified rear suspension, already tested in Canada, that should go in that direction".
The Formula 1 season is approaching its climax. The battle for the World Championship is not yet compromised, despite Sebastian Vettel is firmly in control with 161 points (92 moreover of Alonso). The Ferrari has made significant progress in recent races:
"We’re about to start a very busy period of this season, with four races in five weeks. We were competitive in the last two races but soon we will be back on tracks, as the one of Silverstone, whose characteristics should, ideally, adapt more to our rivals, as more downforce is required. Even if Valencia is a city circuit that is in the middle between the one of Monaco and Montreal for the technical characteristics, there’s the final part with high speed that could give us any indication for the progress that we made, already from the practices of Friday".
Fernando Alonso still believes he can win the World Championship. The Ferrari driver is confident at the eve of the European Grand Prix that will take place in Valencia.
"There’s still time to recover, but to win the title the Ferrari needs to have the best car on track. We need to have the best car. If so, we can still win the title because we still have a lot of time and a lot of races where we can recover".
Joking, then, Alonso says:
"It’s easier that I can do the walk of Santiago de Compostela than to recover on the World Championship".
But there’s no time to make calculations.
"We need to win every race. Sometimes this is impossible, but this needs to be our goal".
On a personal level, Alonso has nothing to blame:
"I’ve never driven so well in my career as in these seven races. I gave my best also in qualifying and at the start. When you are in Ferrari the pressure is at the maximum, you need to win every race and in every World Championship, but if we keep starting from the fifth and sixth position of the grid it will be very difficult to win".
On Sunday they will race in Valencia where it takes the ban, decided by the FIA, to modify the engines mapping between qualifying and race.
"But I don’t believe that this will have important consequences on the qualifying or in the race. Vettel sometimes was faster than us by 8 or 9 tenths, also in the race. The Red Bull has been superior and dominant, we must not underestimate our rivals. During the race we are closer, so we need to keep working in this direction: it seems that we are more competitive but we don’t have to forget how fast our rivals are".
The Ferrari is still chasing the first victory in this World Championship:
"At the moment it’s hard. There's no doubt that in Monaco and Canada we had the opportunity to win. We were so close to it. The trend is good enough, we are improving. And Valencia has similar characteristics of the one of Montreal and Monaco".
On Friday June 10 2011, a confirmation arrives immediately: the wind in Ferrari is really changing: the best time of the first day of free practices of the European Grand Prix, seventh race of the season, is by Fernando Alonso. On the track of Valencia, the Spanish driver of the Ferrari, third in the first session, laps in 1'37"968 ahead of the McLaren-Mercedes of the English Lewis Hamilton (1'38"265) and the Red Bull Racing of the German Sebastian Vettel (1'38"265). The World Champion, only sixteenth in the first session, ended up ahead of the Mercedes of his compatriot Michael Schumacher (1'38"315) and to the Ferrari of the Brazilian Felipe Massa (1'38"443). Sixth position for the McLaren-Mercedes of the English Jenson Button (1’38”483), followed by the Red Bull of the Australian Mark Webber (1'38"531), the fastest of the first hour, and of the Mercedes of the German Nico Rosberg (1'38"981). Obviously Fernando Alonso, at the end of the day, smiles:
"After all, a positive debut this weekend in Valencia, my second home race. We completed all the planned program, mainly working on the tires. Particularly, in this Grand Prix we have for the first time the Medium. It has been important to be able to turn a lot because on a circuit like that it helps to gain confidence with the car, to find the limit and, so, to improve the performance. The track has characteristics that fit well with our car but it’s soon to say where we are, compared to the other".
But it’s only the first day of practice.
"Already in the past we did well on the first day and then we took a second in the qualifying so I don’t wanna look at the ranking of today. On the free practice of the Friday you try many things, the track change very fast, even more on a city circuit, as this one, so it’s impossible to make predictions. The car seems to behave well so we will face, with confidence, the qualifying knowing that we are facing very strong rivals. It's not a case that the Red Bull have always done the pole in the first seven races of the year and it’s clear that they are the favourite. Here the overtakes are easier than what was seen in Monaco but the position on the grid will still be important".
Also Felipe Massa is happy of his fifth time:
"I’d say that it was a good day, better than any other Friday of this season. From what we could understand after three hours of free practice, the car is pretty competitive and I didn’t expect a much different situation compared to the one that we saw two weeks ago in Canada. It's true, it’s only Friday but at least it was positive. The tires have behaved well: both the Prime and the Option showed a better grip to what we expected at the eve. Obviously, there’s a big difference between the two compounds but the Medium, with higher temperatures than Canada, it did not went bad. Now we need to make good choices about the set-up of the car for the next two days. The balance of the car is still not perfect - for example - we block too much the front during the brake, anyway we are going in the right direction. We hope we can battle in qualifying as we did in Canada".
No illusions for him, but with the best time of the day he has lit up the Spain. Valencia believes in it, maybe more of the same Fernando Alonso, the fastest of the second session of free practice, faster with his Ferrari than the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton, second by 0.227 seconds, but especially fastest of the insatiable Sebastian Vettel with the elusive Red Bull Racing, only third to almost 0.3 seconds, not too brilliant in the afternoon after the problems of the morning, a first free practice closed (heresy for the German) at the sixteenth place. Alonso is preaching for calm, but in the meantime he seems competitive and makes it clear that on this winding track, built inside the port of the Spanish city, the Ferrari is competitive, they can play it with the Red Bull Racing, as (with more lucky) he could have done it in Montreal and how they did it partly in Monte-Carlo, fourth in qualify and second on the race with Alonso, behind Vettel. Valencia can give similar sensations and the Spanish doesn’t hide it:
"The car is the same as in Canada, it would be crazy talking about a step ahead, are the characteristics of the track to benefit us. Here the aerodynamics make less difference, there are long straight, few fast corners, our car performs well. I’m satisfied with the grip of both types of tires, I have trust. But it’s only the first day and I know, by experience, that when you battle for the fast lap it can change everything. Maybe Vettel hid and in qualifying he will put everything inside of his potential, he will trim to us a second of detachment and goodbye dreams".
The Spain, of course, that is what they don’t wish for, from everywhere they come in Valencia to cheer, hoping that on Sunday the Spanish hero can make the miracle, by dragging the Ferrari to the first victory of the season.
The fans, also the Italian ones that are crazy for the red car, prefer to think that the caution of Alonso is only superstition and that actually there is a possibility of a task. An impression that go around the box, between the neutral fans, and brings into play the news of this weekend, the inability to change the mapping of the engine between the qualifying and the race, a prologue of what is going to happen in Silverstone, next race, when the aerodynamic effects of the drain shall be reduced to zero. To the people of Formula 1 this change, during the season, helps the Ferrari and it penalizes the Red Bull Racing, that in fact is furious, only Alonso does not want to satisfy this momentum of optimism.
"I don’t know what is going to happen in Silverstone, I’m sure in Valencia nothing has changed".
The Spanish keeps saying, almost to protect the progress of the Ferrari.
"True improvements and not induces, of a team that knows how to win a World Championship, that was the best in the last decade and that in the last season it was in the lead at the last race. This year we started bad, but a bad start cannot erase blazon and ability".
Alonso speaks of the team with pride, he defends it with passion, and he tells that he wants to stay, on his projects, over the 2016, that is the year of expiry of his contract.
"Into the Ferrari for life, last team".
These words are already known, but now he also has a future as manager, not as Schumacher that at 41 years old he decided to betray Mercedes. Alonso thinks about the present:
"Soon or later, maybe here, we will be back to win".
On Saturday, June 11, 2011, Sebastian Vettel had moved himself up into third for this session, and fellow German, Michael Schumacher, was fourth. The remaining Red Bull Racing, McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and the two Renaults completed the top ten. Jaime Alguersuari was the only driver not to set a time in the session. Trulli, di Resta and Karthikeyan all returned to their seats for the session. In the only Saturday session, Vettel set the quickest time ahead of Alonso, Massa, Webber, Button, Nico Rosberg, Hamilton, Schumacher, Petrov and then Heidfeld. And in qualifying Sebastian Vettel took his seventh pole position in eight races in 2011, closely followed by his Red Bull teammate, Mark Webber, who completed the front row. The second and third fastest qualifying teams - the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton (third) and Jenson Button (sixth) split by the two Ferraris of Fernando Alonso ahead of his teammate Felipe Massa. The Mercedes cars were seventh and eighth with Nico Rosberg in front of Michael Schumacher. After that, the Renaults and Force Indias fought to make the top ten - one of each going through - they were followed by a similar battle between the Sauber and the Williams cars. Sébastien Buemi was the one Toro Rosso in Q2, ending up seventeenth, with his teammate Jaime Alguersuari eighteenth. The back three rows on the grid were filled up by the new teams - Narain Karthikeyan qualifying last and at almost a second behind Vitantonio Liuzzi.
"Many expected our decline after the changes of the regulation: it has been a great day for us".
From the words of Sebastian Vettel emerges a sensation of revenge: the World Champion conquered the pole position of the European Grand Prix.
"I was sure we would not have suffered it. My first lap was great and Mark Webber also made a great result. We hope to do well also tomorrow".
But, the German driver remains careful ahead of the race.
"It will be a long day, on this track it’s difficult to guess all the corners. We know what we have to do, also with the new rules, are worth it for anyone, so someone will suffer more and someone less. I think that Mercedes and Renault, for example, will be affected more than others. I’m not familiar with the pole, dependd on the moment: in other occasions there’s more time to celebrate. The important thing is finding the right pace".
Also his team-mate, Mark Webber, is cautious.
"We are trying to do our best as always, today I made a good lap. For the team, the current one is a good result but what matters is the race of tomorrow: there are important points at stake".
Lewis Hamilton, third after the qualify, says:
"I didn’t expect to start in such a good position, the team worked well on the analysis of the data. I tried to save the tires for tomorrow".
Instead, Fernando Alonso is polemical:
"The expectations are created by journalists, the message has been clear throughout the week-end, just listen. That went better than expected and I’m sorry for those who hoped in a pole position. We are fourth to half-tenth to the McLaren, for the eighth time I finish qualifying in front of Massa: we can think about the podium even if I start from the dirty side of the track, which complicates our lives. We will try to gain something since the first corner".
Felipe Massa is back on the topic of the changed rules:
"I don’t know if there will be a difference, I don’t think that will change something here, possibly we need to wait until Silverstone to understand our improvement. I will start fifth behind Fernando, we hope to have a more important pace during the race".
But Charlie Whiting, race director and safety officer of the FIA, explains why you can’t change the map of the engine between the qualifying and the race.
"We don’t change the rules running: we enforce them. All changed the map, but it was already banned. Every action is forbidden, except for a leap of 10 °C on the temperature between one day to another".
From Silverstone, in two weeks, stop at the aerodynamic effects of the drains, able to throw gas and hot air even when the throttle is not pressed.
"We thinked it was legal, we changed our mind. A team protested (n.d.r. the Williams) and we decided to do something".
Even if this has triggered the anger of the Red Bull Racing team.
"We don’t care to favour anyone, but we want that every car runs at the same level and inside the rules. If someone will lose half a second on the lap, it’s not our problem".
Sebastian Vettel is disarming. In his dominance, also with the new rules: the map of the engine cannot be changed between Saturday and Sunday. In his sarcastic smile. In his impressive numbers, the twenty-second pole of his career, just two from the legends ad Niki Lauda and Nelson Piquet, despite the one of today is only the race number 76 in F1 and on Sunday July 3 he will celebrate his twenty-fourth birthday, the seventh Saturday (in eight) as undisputed king, an absolute monopoly that launched him over an historic record as the one of Nigel Mansell, fourteen pole in a season, while, at the item racing victories (he is already at five) is Michael Schumacher have to shake that with his thirteen victories that it could be a few. Sebastian Vettel is unstoppable also in the Spain of Alonso, equipped with a super power that make, the Spanish driver, say:
"This Red Bull is the best car of the last ten years".
The most exciting, the fastest, even more of the Ferrari 2004.
"Because there it wasn't just a great driver as Schumacher, an amazing car, but also a perfect team, here, instead, it’s just the car, of aerodynamic efficiency, of a car that grinds every rival".
A car that on Saturday has no rival and that cools the enthusiasm of the fans, arrived in Valencia, hoping for a miracle.
"Alonso podemos".
The banner reads, an invocation lost in nothingness, because the Spanish tried, but at the end he had to settle for a fourth place, a disappointing second row, behind the two Red Bull Racing drivers, not only Sebastian Vettel but also Mark Webber, despite the revolution of the rules, and of a Lewis Hamilton that more of the Ferrari he has managed to make the most from the McLaren. A result that can’t satisfy the men of the team of Maranello, even if Alonso tried to pretend satisfaction, and almost testily he replied that he had not deluded anyone. Well, people believed in it and now they feel a little betrayed. It’s not the best to hear that they need to be happy:
"Because once again I managed to beat my team-mate”.
Felipe Massa (in that 2011 it’s always behind in the qualifying) cannot be a reference point, the enemies should be others, the Red Bull drivers that no one is able to fight off. Alonso says:
"We can be on the podium".
And, thinking about the negative statistics, with Valencia so far a taboo circuit, this can’t be a good news, a thing he really cares about.
"Because in the calendar there are three tracks in which I’ve never been on the podium, this one, the India one where we never raced, and Abu Dhabi”.
Where in 2010 he lost, in a mocking way, the World Championship. Alonso believes that he can beat Hamilton, but he goes not even further, as Massa, that he does not rejoice for the fifth place and he talks more of the disappointing result of his team-mate. The problem of this Ferrari is that they can’t recover the gap and since in the 2012 the rules will stay the same, there’s the risk that Vettel goes on to the boredom in his domain. After the qualifying someone provokes him, telling him that not much is the scream at the radio after the pole and maybe he is used to being in the lead. He denies:
"I never get used to it".
But it is likely to happen to him, since Adrian Newey, genius of the project, signed a contract to stay with the Anglo-Austrian team till the 2014 and Vettel aligned himself. It needs to be the Ferrari, with Pat Fry, new technical director, to stop it, working, already now, for the 2012. Maybe they can, now it seems an impossible mission and Alonso takes notice. On Sunday, June 12, 2011, at the start Sebastian Vettel lead easily from pole, with his teammate Mark Webber behind. Felipe Massa had a good start from fifth, driving straight between and past Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso at Turn 1; but because Massa looked down the outside of Webber at Turn 2, Alonso could cleverly get back in front of Massa on the inside of Turn 3. Bad starts from the McLarens, Hamilton dropped from third to fifth, and Jenson Button dropped from sixth to seventh – behind Nico Rosberg. Button later retook the sixth place from Rosberg a few laps later into Turn 2. Before the pit stops the order was: Vettel, Webber, Alonso, Massa, Hamilton, Button, Rosberg, Schumacher (the four fastest cars in the top eight place). It seemed like the Ferraris had made great improvements since Canada because their pace was at least equal to the McLarens, and significantly faster at some stages of the race. The McLarens had quiet races, Button stuck in sixth, while Hamilton used the undercut to get past Massa in the pit stops for fourth, where he would finish the race. Fernando Alonso engaged in a race-long battle with Mark Webber for second place, while Vettel stormed away into the distance. Early on, in the race, Alonso overtook Webber in the first DRS zone, on the inside of Turn 12. However, in the pit stops, the great Red Bull Racing strategy got Webber back in front.
Ferrari later used the pit stops to get Alonso back in front of Webber. A radio message to Webber, telling him to go slower due to gearbox troubles ensured Alonso's second place. Michael Schumacher finished in a disappointing 17th after a misjudgement from him, when he exited the pits, where he ploughed his front wing into the side of Vitaly Petrov's Renault. This meant that he had to pit again the following lap demoting him to 17th, where he stayed, on a circuit that is notoriously difficult to overtake on. Although, Schumacher admitted, after the race, that seventh and eighth was the maximum for the two Mercedes cars. Sergio Pérez did a respectable job of preserving his tyres so he only had to pit once, he finished eleventh after starting in sixteenth. His Sauber teammate, Kamui Kobayashi, finished in sixteenth place, it’s the first time in 2011 that he did not finish in the top ten. For the second race in a row Jaime Alguersuari justified his position in Toro Rosso by finishing eighth from eighteenth on the grid. Another driver in a good race was Mark Webber, calling it his best race this year, although he was still beaten by his teammate Vettel, who took his sixth victory from eight races. HRT driver Narain Karthikeyan finished the race in last place. Due to the lack of retirements during the race, Karthikeyan finished in 24th position. That is the lowest finishing position of any driver in a Grand Prix in Formula 1 history. Everything as usual? Yes, if we look at the winner - the usual Sebastian Vettel, in the lead from the first to the last corner, including the pit-stop - but if we look at the second we find , with great surprise: Fernando Alonso. With a Ferrari that, finally, keeps the pace of Red Bull Racing. The Spanish, in fact, to get on podium ahead of Mark Webber, he had to battle for long with the Australian, overtaking him on track then finding himself behind him after the pit-stop and again ahead after the last one.
Everything with an amazing race pace, always with the same time of the two Red Bull drivers, with few moments - incredible but true - where Alonso was clearly the fastest driver on track. Well, in Valencia the Spanish was driving ahead of his crown. Well, Fernando has made the phenomenon between the wall and the stunning double. Well, Webber didn’t have the car in place as the one of Vettel: you can put all the possible exceptions (also the one that the McLaren were incredibly low), but the fact is that for the first time in this season the Ferrari turned in the same pace of the Red Bull Racing. So, it could be the start of a recovery and a lot will depend on what the Ferrari will show from the next races, when the circuits will be less favourable to their car. So it wins Sebastian Vettel, against every legal revolutions wanted by the FIA to rebalance a bit the playing field and that should find maximum expression in Silverstone, a circuit that is very suitable to Red Bull Racing, due to their aerodynamic efficiency. The hope of the Federation and of the fans is that there is a possibility that using the elevated throttle discharges can brake Vettel and Webber, but there’s who fear that nothing is going to change and that the domain of the two Anglo-Austrian cars, favourite also by the suitable Pirelli tires, may be even more overwhelming. What is going to happen in England is a great question mark, for sure in Valencia the two Red Bull have not suffered any damage. Webber didn’t lose from Alonso because the team could not change the map of the engine between Saturday and Sunday, it was the gearbox and a strategy less right to lower him. Vettel, after he gained the pole the day before, welcomed everyone at the first corner and it was seen only at the finish line, first as usual, without making any overtake. Win like this must be a bore (only a fit of anger in front of the lapped Karthikeyan, he screamed: get out of the way Indian and it looked like a western propaganda movie), but he refuses this concept.
"Win is always exciting and it’s not always easy. Did you hear what a scream on the radio?"
The day before they provoked him: you don’t rejoice anymore, maybe it’s the habit. He must have remembered it and after the finish line he has forced the tone. They praised him:
"Great day, well done boy, fast lap and the victory of the Grand Prix".
And him with few screams. Explained then:
"My car makes me enjoy it, that’s why I call her as the sexy actress (Kylie Minogue). Every lap is an enjoyment while the others strive to come and pick me up, to put some pressure. I know that if I make a mistake, it’s the end, look what happened in Canada with Button, and that is the adrenaline. Be perfect. To be successful".
Now he has the second World Title at hand, having 77 points of advantage on Jenson Button and Mark Webber, 89 points on Lewis Hamilton and 99 points on Fernando Alonso, abysses impossible to fill, even if there are yet eleven races. But he claims:
"I don’t look at the advantage, I don’t want to think about it, I only know that last year it happened that we stayed dry for few races and if the story happens this year, I have to start over from zero".
Even the most superstitious would contradict him, but he insists, swearing that he is not thinking to the two record that he could easily beat, the fourteen pole in a season of Nigel Mansell and the thirteen victory of Michael Schumacher, that in 2004 won seven races in the first eight, while Sebastian Vettel is at six victories.
"I want to stand out, on Saturday and on Sunday, but not for the records, those don’t interest me. I want to win every race only for the taste of victory".
I’ll save you a lot of trouble, maybe he will pretend not to think at Mansell and at Schumacher, but for him it was taken care of by the English bookmakers, quoting it in a very low way the possibility that the venture will succeed. Then again, forgive them, but what is their fault if in eight races he made only a mistake and only a few meters from the Canadian finish line? He explains the reason:
"This car I feel it mine, it’s amazing".
In Silverstone will be even worse if Pirelli will bring the Hard and Medium tires. Felipe Massa is furious:
"It favours only one team, it takes the Soft".
And he adds:
"It has been a good race, we were all in a battle but we did not go into the box before because we feared that the car with the Medium tires did not work as it should. With the Soft one we kept the pace, in that pit-stop we lost maybe 8 seconds and so I lost the possibility to battle with Hamilton, I could be in front of him. We both had to finish in front of the McLaren, but arriving fifth is not bad. Optimistic for Silverstone? Yes, more or less. We are gonna see what tires we will have, if we will have the Medium and the Hard it won’t be easy, we hope to have the Soft and the Hard, so we could battle".
And in the meantime Christian Horner said:
"It’s been a great performance aside Sebastian Vettel and of the team, the Ferrari has been fast but our strategy went well".
The German looks set towards the victory of the second World title, but also Horner won’t hear of a Championship already finish:
"There are still many Grand Prix, we are not even at the half, there’s still a lot".
Mark Webber, instead, does not hide his discouragement:
"I hoped for second place, but in the end I didn’t make it. I made a great race, maybe my best of the season until the last pit-stop, but I couldn’t hold the position. We followed a strategy that was similar to the one of Alonso, we were doing well until the last pit-stop, actually it was my fault. I chose when to get back, I didn’t know how the Medium would have been, I chose to take a risk and I made a mistake. Alonso stayed out a couple of laps more than me and he has guessed his choice. I need to say that we made a great race all of us".
It’s strange to see Fernando Alonso cheer like a madman for the achievement of a podium. In his life the Spanish driver won the World Championship for two times, he won 26 Grand Prix, of the champagne he should be accustomed to. Well, the trophy of the organisers of Valencia was missing in his collection.
"This track was a taboo, now are missing only Abu Dhabi and India, where I never raced, then the collection is completed".
But the fighter Fernando Alonso is not the type that rejoices to have completed the cards album, he is making the war on track and outside, a mastiff, to end up second behind Sebastian Vettel, as already happened in Monte-Carlo, cannot quench his thirst for glory. Fernando is also a pragmatic man, he understands what you can obtain and when the mission is impossible, and this time is the first to invite the Ferrari fans, of all the world, and especially the Spanish, to cheer.
"We can’t do more. The podium was my target, the highest possible, and having ended up in a sandwich between the two Red Bull is an amazing result, at least we defeated one".
Well, he did not outclass the real one, the unleashed car of Vettel, the young sister, this year driven with uncertain make by the thirty-five years old Webber.
"Maybe he made a mistake, or maybe he had a problem with the gearbox, the point is I managed to mock him. Here we were close and in case of their mistake, there’s space to take advantage of it. On other tracks it will be different, in Silverstone, the next race, for example I expect so much suffering, but now this is our destiny. The Championship is not in our thoughts anymore, we need to live the day. Grand Prix after Grand Prix, hoping that the next one will be more exciting than the one before".
There’s a nightmare that seems more than anything to torment him, a Ferrari not victorious, this is sure, everything will be prey of the Red Bull Racing and of Sebastian Vettel, but also of the zero victories of the entire year. Alonso, greeted as a hero in Valencia, wants to definitely avoid this situation.
"I know that our team is convicted to win, that our fans cheer only for the victories and I’m convinced that sooner or later we will give them one. At the start of the season it was impossible, 1.5 seconds of detachment from the Red Bull Racing in qualifying, a consistent edge also during the race, now we are closer, we have halved the gap and maybe before the end of the season we can be almost equal. When this is going to happen, we need to be ready to use their little mistake. In the meantime let’s drink this warm broth, finishing second is better than nothing".
It’s the best result of the year, in the race, Alonso tells, in which he showed that he is the best. Also the team appeared to be worthy for him, guessing the strategy.
"Staying three more laps on track with Soft tires was crucial".
It was in that track where he gained the edge needed to overtake the rival, a rival that he had already passed over at the lap 21 with a maneuver by cheers. Also Stefano Domenicali, the Ferrari Team Principal, emphasises the great race of the driver but also of the team, defending it for the inconvenience that happened to Felipe Massa.
"We had a problem with a bouillon and maybe the eight seconds were decisive for the duel with Hamilton for the fourth place. But it’s clear, this time at the box, we didn’t lose a position, we gained one with Fernando".
A good relief to return the inerrant of a time, a great advance waiting that the reliability will also translate into the performances on track. In the 2011 will be impossible:
"At an aerodynamic level we are three months late".
But, at least, another mistake is needed as a lesson for the redemption of the next year.