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Fernando Alonso doesn't look for excuses. The Spaniard acknowledges the superiority demonstrated in recent years, first by Red Bull and now by Mercedes, and considers the success of his rivals well-deserved. The Ferrari driver praises the two rival teams and urges his team to use this situation as motivation to work better.
"Red Bull had a significant advantage in the last four years, and now we are witnessing a similar situation with Mercedes".
Says Fernando Alonso, who believes that the gap between the Silver Arrows and other teams is perhaps even larger than the one that characterized Red Bull's dominance in past seasons.
"Red Bull did a better job than other teams and deserved the titles they won. Now Mercedes leads the drivers' and constructors' standings because they did a better job than others, not only with the engine but also with the car. The other teams with Mercedes engines have the same chances, and they are a lap behind".
Fernando Alonso emphasizes that this situation should serve as a stimulus for Ferrari.
"They did something good, and for us, it's motivation to work better because we know that some other teams are using the new cars better".
Regarding Mercedes, Toto Wolff discusses the rivalry between his two drivers, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.
"Many comparisons have been made with the Senna-Prost era, which is a compliment to Lewis and Nico, but the situation is very different. Our philosophy at Mercedes is to let our drivers fight each other in races, let them play with their toys unless they break them. It can be very intense between them, but they know we won't tolerate a single incident".
So far, luck has not been on his side. Kimi Raikkonen explains the challenging return to Ferrari. The Finnish driver, in twelfth place, is far from his teammate Fernando Alonso, who is third in the Drivers' Championship after six races. Yet, in Monte Carlo, he was close to surpassing him for the first time, thwarted by the incident with Max Chilton's Marussia.
"I've driven well many times, but there's always been something that didn't go well in races, like collisions with other drivers. In Monaco, I started in a good position but had a puncture. All small things that contributed to things going wrong. And in the end, it makes a big difference in terms of points".
Despite this, Raikkonen is optimistic since he feels comfortable with the F14T:
"I'm sure that once the feeling with the car grows, things will go much better. But until we get results and solve some small issues, we'll have to keep struggling. Hopefully, we'll be a bit luckier in the future".
There is optimism in Ferrari ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso, before heading to Montreal, spends a few days at the Maranello factory with the Ferrari team:
"Nice atmosphere, we are all motivated and hungry for good results. We are improving, although it's impossible to make predictions. The goal is to reduce the gap as much as possible".
While his teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, is engaged in Scandinavia with one of Ferrari's sponsors, Fernando Alonso spends some time with the people working in Maranello:
"We are realistic; we know where we are at the moment, but from now on, we want to be in a position to achieve good results and enjoy race weekends a bit more. One thing is certain: we are all working in the same direction to improve the car".
Alonso has always liked being present at the factory and feeling that he can make a tangible contribution:
"It's important to spend time with engineers, mechanics, and the rest of the staff even away from race weekends because there are always new ideas to examine, or useful insights for work can come up. Maybe while eating together, we come up with something to try at the next Grand Prix or in the simulator. That's why I like to spend time here, in this unique and family-like environment".
Turning to the current situation, Fernando is obviously focused on the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix on the Gilles Villeneuve circuit, where he has won in the past:
"It has only six or seven corners, but each of them has something special and a certain element of danger. Approaching them correctly can give you a significant advantage in terms of lap time. In Montreal, there's no room for errors; all the walls are very, very close to the track. Another beautiful thing is the passion that emerges from the entire city and seems to infect every inhabitant. I've won here, and I can say I have great memories of this track. However, I also remember that big storm a few years ago, with the race suspended for hours and a long wait on the grid. My results here have been fluctuating; sometimes, I did very well, other times less. Hopefully, this will be a good year".
In Canada with optimism. In the press conference before the Canadian Grand Prix weekend on June 5, 2014, Fernando Alonso extends a hand to Ferrari's team principal, Marco Mattiacci:
"He's moving in the right direction, has clear ideas, and a very intelligent approach; year by year, we will become stronger".
Regarding the race in Montreal, the Spanish driver hopes for a positive result:
"It will be a tough race because, on this track again, unlike Monaco or Barcelona, the dominant factor will be the power of the power unit. I don't think we'll have an easy time here, but I like the track, and the results of the last four years have been positive. I expect a good weekend from which I hope heavy points will come. We have some updates we've worked on in recent weeks, testing them extensively on the simulator. Here, the lap is short, and the times will be very close, which means that one or two tenths more or less can make a difference of six or seven positions".
In the meantime, the dispute within the Mercedes team between Rosberg and Hamilton seems to have subsided. The British driver clarifies:
"Nico and I are friends, and we will work together for Mercedes".
And Lewis adds:
"We talked after that race, and there's not much to add. Nico and I are friends, and like between all friends, there are ups and downs. But we've been close for a long time, and what happened in Monaco is a closed chapter. We'll try to work together to help Mercedes win the constructors' championship".
The Brit assures that the Monte Carlo episode hasn't left any lingering effects within the team:
"Nothing has changed. Nico and I have talked with the team, and together we've clarified things. Mercedes did a great job managing the situation, ensuring support for both drivers. It was great. In the team, we are all united; last night, we were together for dinner, and that's one of our strengths. Between me and Nico, nothing different happened compared to the many experiences we've had in the past. Now, we turn the page and continue to push to the maximum. The season is still long, and I look forward to a new battle on the track".
On Friday, June 6, 2014, Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time at the end of the afternoon session of the free practice for the Canadian Grand Prix. On the Gilles Villeneuve track, the British driver from Mercedes clocked 1'16"118, 0.175 seconds ahead of his teammate, Nico Rosberg. Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull took the third spot, more than 0.45 seconds behind. Following at a 0.5-second gap were the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso. Raikkonen, using the modifications brought to Canada by Ferrari and tested in the morning by Alonso, was 0.053 seconds faster than his teammate. Both Ferrari drivers would have the same aerodynamic configuration in qualifying. Felipe Massa was sixth, 0.073 seconds ahead of his former teammate. This time, the Brazilian was faster than Valtteri Bottas, who followed him. Fernando Alonso had been the fastest in the first session with a time of 1'17"238, leading the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. The Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel took the fourth spot, ahead of the Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas with Williams and his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo. The McLarens of Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen followed. Kimi Raikkonen with the other Ferrari was ninth, having encountered an issue with a sensor on his F14T, forcing him to leave the track early. The question arose: was it just a morning illusion or the beginning of something unthinkable? How much hope could Fernando Alonso's time in the cloudy morning of Montreal, with a few raindrops, bring, leading Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, the current leader of the World Championship? Judging by what happened later in the afternoon when the Mercedes drivers reasserted themselves, not much. However, in Formula 1 today, everything is clung to: pre-tactics, defense, bluff, ostentation-anything useful to send desired messages to others and to nurture hope before the race. Ferrari strives to think positively, having it in its DNA even in the face of evidence. And here, on the circuit that wears out brakes like few others, why not imagine the impossible? That's why the Spaniard pushed to the maximum, contrary to the low-profile concepts expressed before.
"The Ferrari team has excellent resources, excellent minds; we must leave them creative possibilities".
Says James Allison, the technical director of Ferrari, suggesting a departure from certain methodologies to unleash the talent and creativity for which Ferrari is the quintessential ambassador of Made in Italy. Despite thoughts about the future, Ferrari strongly wants the present to change-it has been over a year since winning a Grand Prix (May 2013 in Spain). It's not just about winning the World Championship or standings; it's a matter of pride, tradition, and principle.
Weather could objectively provide some assistance: on Saturday in Montreal, 4 °C more are expected (with no chance of rain), a factor to be considered by tire specialists and engineers (especially the latter) for race setup and strategies on Sunday, not to mention the fight for pole position. Declares the Ferrari team slogan in the evening:
"Satisfaction for the work done yesterday by the two drivers".
Indeed, Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso had no issues completing their assigned tasks and, particularly in the last half-hour of the afternoon session, attempted a simulation of the Grand Prix, keeping an eye on lap times. The Mercedes (first Hamilton, then Rosberg) wanted to seal the Friday, with Vettel (thanks to the Supersoft tires) quickly slotting in behind, ahead of the two Ferraris (first Raikkonen, then Alonso). The performance's goodness was not compromised for once, and thinking positively for this seventh Grand Prix seemed justified. The silence of the two drivers at the end, interpreted as a good sign, further confirms this. The definitive verdict belongs to the track. Meanwhile, on Saturday, June 7, 2014, Lewis Hamilton once again set the fastest time in the third and final free practice for the Canadian Grand Prix. The British driver from Mercedes, with four victories in the first six races of the season and three career triumphs on the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit, clocked 1'15"610, ahead of the Williams of Felipe Massa, showing strong race pace. Nico Rosberg was third, followed by the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso and the Red Bull of the Australian Daniel Ricciardo. Kimi Raikkonen was sixth, while Sebastian Vettel could not go beyond the tenth best time. However, the two Mercedes were disturbed by traffic when using the Supersoft tires, and Esteban Gutiérrez ended up against the barriers at Turn 8 without physical consequences. Due to the incident in the last free practice session, the Mexican driver couldn't participate in the qualifying. In the first phase, Pastor Maldonado was also slowed down by technical problems with his car and was eliminated in Q1, along with the Marussia and Caterham drivers.
Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time, ahead of Kevin Magnussen and Nico Rosberg. Magnussen couldn't replicate his performance in Q2 and was eliminated along with Nico Hülkenberg, who was surpassed on the last attempt by Jean-Éric Vergne. Sergio Pérez, Romain Grosjean, Daniil Kvjat, and Adrian Sutil also did not advance to the decisive phase. In this second phase, Lewis Hamilton remained the fastest. In the decisive phase, Nico Rosberg took the lead after the initial attempts. In the final part of Q3, no other driver managed to improve his time, which was only surpassed by Nico Rosberg himself. For the German driver, it was the seventh pole position of his career, and for Mercedes, it was the seventh consecutive pole start, the only team to achieve this result during the season. Hamilton completed the front row, while the second was occupied by Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas. After qualifying, Maldonado received a reprimand from the stewards for not reattaching the steering wheel to the car after parking it by the track during Q1. Kamui Kobayashi was relegated five grid positions for changing the gearbox on his car. Following the script, the F1 in Canada confirmed itself as a Mercedes one-make series, where the pole position remains a matter solely between Rosberg and Hamilton. This issue was resolved with Nico's first position, followed by his teammate. Then Vettel, Bottas, Massa, Ricciardo, and Alonso (only seventh), followed by Vergne and Button. A disappointing tenth place for Raikkonen, who admitted:
"I struggled to make a good lap; the car was sliding too much, there was nothing to do. We expected it to be difficult here, but tomorrow we'll try to do better".
While Fernando Alonso said:
"Tomorrow we hope to finish ahead of Red Bull to start the comeback in the Constructors' World Championship. It's not a surprise that Mercedes is stronger than us, but Red Bull and Williams are ahead. We're not seventh and tenth for some strange reason, but because the others are stronger".
The 27 °C in Montreal burned all the progress (or presumed progress) shown by Ferrari in the Friday free practices. Alonso and Raikkonen will start seventh and tenth, behind three teams: Mercedes (Rosberg and Hamilton), Red Bull (Vettel and Ricciardo), and Williams (Bottas and Massa).
"This is the state of the art. We are not where we are for some strange reason. It is evident that Red Bull has done better than us, while Williams is surprisingly fast this weekend. I don't need to add anything about Mercedes, right?"
Says Fernando Alonso, who seems almost to have an upside-down beard, so depressed. The Spaniard confesses:
"For three Fridays, we've been in the lead, never on Saturday".
He then reveals the reason:
"We have a different approach to the weekend than other teams. Friday was also colder, and this is an advantage for us. And usually, we run with less fuel, so we can seem faster".
A good trick for just one day. On Saturday, with the law of pole position, it tells the truth and puts things back in order. Kimi Raikkonen adds in his own way:
"I knew it would be a tough day; we tried, but it didn't work. Let's try to have a good race".
The truth is that the engineers' innovations were there, but a reconnaissance on the track was enough to realize that not even the other teams remained idle. Therefore, the values remain the same, at least regarding the challenge for the fastest lap. And for once that McLaren is behind, other contenders for the podium emerge:
"We knew that this circuit would enhance the characteristics of our car".
Explains Rob Smedley, former Ferrari engineer who now follows Felipe Massa at Williams. And the Brazilian driver adds:
"The Mercedes are up there, but with all the others, we can and must compete".
The diagnosis is bad, but one should not give up for that. Although it is the same Spaniard who cannot imagine how and where to operate.
"Unfortunately, I don't have great chances at the start. The circuit is short, I just have to rely on the race pace".
On this, a tiny help can come from that set of tires saved in Q2, a tactical choice that could become strategic:
"I hope the Supersoft tires can provide the right boost".
Unless one should rejoice in the problems of others, and, just not to name names, in the spectacular duel between Rosberg and Hamilton. The pole went to the blonde German, but the Englishman hopes to make up for it tonight.
So, watch out for the two determining factors, the heat, and the brakes. But above all, despite the reassurances from the Mercedes team, Nico Rosberg is seen a bit nervous in the pit (it seems he couldn't understand how on earth Hamilton was so fast in some points he indicated on the telemetry). In short, despite the statements made by Lewis Hamilton ("The rivalry with Nico? It's a blown-up story"), the two really seem not to like each other. On the other hand, it's not just the incident in Monte Carlo - when Rosberg secured the pole position with a providential mistake that paralyzed the qualifications - that fuels the rivalry between the Mercedes drivers but the fact that it is now known that the World Championship is a two-way fight. And when the victory of a World Championship is at stake, nervousness always rises. It's inevitable. On Sunday, June 8, 2014, weather forecasts expected the Canadian Grand Prix to be partially cloudy and warm; conditions in itself were sunny. The air temperature is between 27 °C and 28 °C, and the track temperature ranges from 44 °C to 49 °C. Every driver from first to tenth begins on the Supersoft compound tyres. When the race commences at 2:00 p.m., Hamilton makes a faster start than his teammate Rosberg. The latter locks up entering the first corner and drifts wide in front of Hamilton as he fends off the former to the right. That puts Hamilton onto some grass and allows Vettel into second. At the entry to turn three, Chilton loses control of the rear of his Marussia and oversteers into the car of his teammate Bianchi. Bianchi is launched airborne as his and Chilton's wheels interlock. He spins into a barrier beside the track. Bianchi is unhurt, and he and Chilton retire. The accident prompts the Safety car's deployment since track marshals are needed to clear oil and debris laid on the circuit. The field conserves fuel under the safety car, which is withdrawn at the end of lap seven. On lap eight, Rosberg immediately draws clear from Vettel, whose Red Bull car is slower by about 10 km/h on a straight. Pérez passes Button on the approach to the final chicane for tenth on that lap. On the next lap, a turbocharger connector pipe failure on Ericsson's car prompts his retirement in the pit lane to prevent engine damage. Kvyat oversteers and spins at turn one on the tenth lap; he falls to the rear of the field. On the same lap, Hamilton uses Drs to pass Vettel into the last chicane for second position.
Sixth-placed Ricciardo is delayed by the Williams pair of Bottas and Massa, whom he cannot pass due to a slower pace on a straight. Behind him, Vergne delays the Ferrari pair of Alonso and Räikkönen, Pérez, and Button. Pérez's super soft compound tyres begin degrading by around laps 13 and 14. Ricciardo makes a pit stop at the conclusion of lap 13 in his attempt to pass both of the Williams drivers. Williams responds by calling Bottas into the pit lane for the soft compound tyres on lap 15. The same is done with his teammate Massa on the next lap. Vettel is about six seconds behind Hamilton by his own pit stop on the lap for the soft compound tyres. On the 17th lap, Alonso makes a pit stop, and his higher speed moves him past Vergne for seventh. Rosberg is more than two seconds ahead of Hamilton when he enters the pit lane one lap later. Hamilton takes the lead on lap 18 and maintains it before his own pit stop on lap 19. Rosberg clips a kerb on the inside of turn four and loses control at the rear on that lap; he narrowly avoids contact with a barrier and continues. Afterwards, Rosberg leads with Hamilton second and the Force India duo of Pérez and Hülkenberg third and fourth. Vettel's slower pace allows Bottas and Ricciardo to draw closer. On the 21st lap, Kvyat illegally drives across the final run-off area to avoid an overtake by Räikkönen. Maldonado retires with a loss of engine power on the following lap. During the 23rd lap, a loss of rear car control puts Vettel wide during an attempted pass on Hülkenberg at the hairpin. After a half-spin at turn one lap 25, a rear-left wheel problem causes Kobayashi to retire after the first chicane. As Hamilton slipstreams Rosberg on the main straight that lap, his teammate locks his tires into the final chicane and cuts the corner. The stewards investigate Rosberg; he is not penalized. Hamilton's race engineer Pete Bonnington advises the former not to take risks. Further down the field, Massa passes Alonso on the outside through the first and second turns for eighth on the 27th lap. Hamilton draws to within less than a second behind Rosberg on lap 28 and has Drs available the following lap. In the meantime, Button overtakes Kvyat around the inside at the hairpin for 12th, and Vettel holds off Bottas at the final chicane. Pérez in third manages his super soft tyres enough to prompt Force India to extend his stint on them. On lap 35, he makes a pit stop to switch to the soft compound tyres and rejoins the circuit in 10th. Bottas enters the pit lane from fifth on lap 36 in his attempt to pass Vettel.
Red Bull responds by bringing Vettel in on the next lap. Hamilton has drawn close to his teammate Rosberg; Mercedes observes warm temperatures on both cars' engine control systems on the kinetic motor–generator units. Hamilton's fails into turn ten on lap 36, and Rosberg's shuts down on the approach to turn one on lap 37, losing their engines 160 hp (120 kW). That lowers their top speed on the straight by 32 km/h and is four seconds a lap slower than before after instructions to restart the electric control systems are unsuccessful. Hülkenberg makes his pit stop on lap 41, and Williams puts the third-placed Massa on a one-stop strategy due to Mercedes' reduced pace. Rosberg enters the pit lane on lap 44; a delay with the installation of his left-front tyre elevates Hamilton to the lead. Hamilton's second pit stop on lap 46 overheats his rear brake discs, as Massa takes the lead. An error from Hamilton at the hairpin that lap allows Rosberg to claim second from his teammate. Hamilton then slipstreams back past with Drs; he runs onto a run-off area at the final corner and passes Rosberg before relinquishing second position to his teammate. He runs off the track twice more and is retired in the pit lane at the start of lap 48. Tyre wear on Massa's car prompts Williams to revert to a two-stop strategy. He enters the pit lane at the end of that lap. Rosberg retakes the lead on the following lap. Mercedes tells him to go faster in the first sector to prevent Pérez from using Drs on the straight. On lap 49, Kvyat retires with a drivetrain fault at the hairpin. On the 57th lap, Bottas' has tyres that are 12 laps older than his teammate Massa's. Bottas locks his flat-spotted tyres at the hairpin to allow his teammate Massa past. He then uses Drs to overtake Hülkenberg; Massa passes Bottas on that lap. Massa passes Hülkenberg for fifth before the final chicane on that lap. He draws closer to Vettel and Ricciardo on lap 57 and sets the race's fastest lap on the following lap, at 1’18”504. On lap 60, Alonso on the inside overtakes Bottas for seventh between turns one and two. Bottas loses eighth to Button soon after. Grosjean retires with a broken rear wing on the following lap. On lap 64, Vettel narrowly avoids hitting the rear of his teammate Ricciardo under braking for the hairpin. Vettel runs wide to prevent a collision, which allows Massa to turn onto the inside line as Vettel jerks in turn 11.
Massa gains on Vettel on the long straight; he does not pass him because he forgets to use Drs. In the meantime, Pérez has rear brake problems. On the 66th lap, Ricciardo uses Drs and steers to the outside to pass Pérez for second entering turn one. He goes onto the grass at the corner. That causes Vettel to nearly hit Pérez's car in the following concertina effect. Ricciardo lowers Rosberg's lead to seven-tenths of a second between laps 66 and 67. Gutiérrez enters the pit lane with an energy storage system failure on the 67th lap. On the back straight at lap 68, Ricciardo uses DRS to pass Rosberg for the lead. On the next lap, Pérez goes off the racing line, and Vettel finds space to overtake him for third at the end of the back straight. Pérez is slow on the start/finish straight from having an untidy exit out of the final corner. On the final lap, Massa's front right tyre and Pérez's left-rear wheel collide. Pérez rams into a barrier at 32G, as Massa narrowly avoids collecting Vettel en route into a tyre wall in a 27G impact. The Safety car is deployed to neutralize the race, and Ricciardo takes his first career victory, the first for an Australian since Mark Webber won the 2012 British Grand Prix. Rosberg finishes second and Vettel third. Off the podium, Button, Hülkenberg, Alonso, Bottas, Vergne, Magnussen, Räikkönen, Pérez, Massa, Sutil, and Gutiérrez are the final finishers. The finale is truly explosive. The entire show is in the final phase of this Canadian Grand Prix. Those who had the patience to watch until the end were left astonished by the surprise: Daniel Ricciardo wins (his first time) with a pass on lap 68, two laps from the end, overtaking the dominant Mercedes driver, Nico Rosberg. Then, during lap 69, frightening images arrive of Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez: the Brazilian attempts to pass the Mexican in a short straight, fighting for fourth place, but ends up hitting Perez's left rear tire with his right front tire. Result: both cars crash violently into the barriers, fortunately unharmed (although Massa will later be taken to the hospital for checks, as per health protocol), with Sebastian Vettel managing to pass unscathed between the two. An incident that ruins the good race both drivers were having but will put the former Ferrari driver in the hot seat. Pérez says he maintained his braking sequence and line prior to the crash:
"There was plenty of space on the left of my car to attempt a clean overtake, and I cannot understand why he had to scrape by. I watched several replays of the incident and I can't help but notice how Felipe turns right just before he hits me. I can only think he must have changed his mind and wanted to rejoin the racing line. His misjudgment cost us a big amount of points".
The seventh Grand Prix has ended Mercedes' monopoly, and it could only be the World Champion team to interrupt the winning streak, Red Bull. The team that, paradoxically, struggled more than others in winter, with a practically flawed car and not even a proper test. Yet, today, Red Bull is the anti-Mercedes. More with Daniel Ricciardo, the surprise of surprises, than with the World Champion, Sebastian Vettel. All on the day of the confirmation of the contract with the technical director, that Adrian Newey whom rumors had in contact with Ferrari for 2015. The close pursuit of Ferrari, which would have made golden bridges to snatch their best engineer from the rival team, was not enough to convince him to leave the World Champion team. Red Bull, in fact, officially announces on its website that it has renewed with the British engineer:
"We are pleased to confirm that we have extended our successful relationship with Adrian Newey with a multi-year contract".
The British engineer, recently linked to Mercedes and especially Ferrari, has contributed to the conquest of the eight world titles, both drivers and constructors, won by Red Bull from 2010 to 2013. The agreement stipulates that Newey will work on new projects for Red Bull Technology and provide consultancy. The British engineer will also be the tutor for Infiniti Red Bull Racing in the development of Formula 1 cars for the coming seasons. Details of the new projects will be announced at a later time. Adrian Newey, fresh from renewing his contract with Red Bull, is pleasantly surprised by Daniel Ricciardo's victory in Montreal, on the day when the Mercedes power unit had its first reliability issue.
"We didn't expect to win on this track. It's an unexpected success. We were happy to be on the podium, but winning was fantastic. Daniel was excellent, driving fantastically, beyond our expectations. He deserved it".
On the problems of Mercedes, he adds:
"Today, they had issues, and we took advantage of them".
Daniel Ricciardo cannot contain his joy after winning his first Grand Prix.
"I'm still in shock, thank you all. I see there are so many Australian flags. The race came alive in the last 15-20 laps, even Rosberg was slowing down on the straights, I struggled to overtake Perez and tried it in the last chicane, where I made a nice move in turn 1. I managed to see Nico in front of me; the situation is truly incredible".
While the German driver for Mercedes, Nico Rosberg, says:
"It was a battle right from the start; I didn't start well, but I kept the advantage at the first corner, and then it was a continuous battle. I kept the advantage until the second pit stop, then there was a problem; I didn't understand it well, but I lost power, found myself slow on the straights. So I tried to hold on until the end, but it didn't work against Daniel".
Ferrari was never in the spotlight, and if Fernando Alonso finished sixth, it was only due to the problems of others: the lack of speed, the evident helplessness, was too obvious. You hear Alonso talk, but it sounds like Luca Montezemolo.
"The sixth and tenth positions are not the ones that belong to us. We need to improve".
Everyone agrees on this; it's on how that opinions differ. The Spaniard seems more like a CEO than a driver, he who once enjoyed playing with words. He talks very little about the Grand Prix, as if there were almost no reason to discuss it. He even tries to see things from the right side, like Red Bull won: who would have ever imagined?
"Well, this says how things in Formula 1 can change, and how it should serve as an example of the work to be done".
The problem is that on the day of the Mercedes half-flop, Ferrari was not there. And at least something of that work to be done that Alonso talks about, the engineers had already done:
"True, but unfortunately, other teams have also progressed, and so we have to intensify improvements if we want to be competitive in the Constructors' Championship standings".
Yes, precisely the crux of the problem: Ferrari, which had so much relied on novelties to show in Canada, has already slipped to third place and must also watch its back from Force India, just ten points behind. And in Austria, they go to a circuit now called the Red Bull Ring. Not to mention Kimi Raikkonen, anonymous as few other times and even capable of a spin. The story of the race is more or less condensed in the game of pairs, from the start, with Nico Rosberg preventing Lewis Hamilton from overtaking with the bad. And for the rest of the race, the script seemed like a copy and paste of the previous ones. Until halfway through the race, when the electric motor of both Mercedes played tricks to turn the muscular performance against them: the Far West duel with Lewis Hamilton ended with the retirement of the Briton due to a failure in the hybrid system that caused a loss of power to the engine and damaged the brake system, also slowing down the action of the German. The others closed in, slowly. And in the finale, there was the overtaking of the Australian driver and his spectacular comeback, while everyone was actually waiting for Felipe Massa, whose Williams seemed to be competitive. Instead, the Brazilian was never able to find the right space, breaking apart and also destroying Perez's Force India. If the World Championship has reopened, it's all to see. Surely, some things have changed: from Montreal, the balances in F1 are no longer the same.