italiaspeed.com: Scuderia Ferrari 2012

FERNANDO ALONSO - FERRARI F2012 - 2012 INDIAN GRAND PRIX

Fernando Alonso turned in another real fighting drive for Ferrari in yesterday's Indian Grand Prix, passing two McLarens and a Red Bull on his way to finish second and limit his disadvantage in the championship points standings.

Fernando Alonso was not sure if his drive to second place in yesterday’s Indian Grand Prix was his best performance of the season. The Scuderia Ferrari man cited Valencia, in his home country and Monza, the team’s home race, as being particular favourites, but in pure driving terms the Spaniard turned in a truly bravura performance. Under normal conditions on a dry track, you are not supposed to go from fifth on the grid to second place, by getting ahead of two McLarens and one Red Bull. But that’s what he did.

As for his team-mate, Felipe Massa finished where he started in sixth place: that might sound dull, but the Brazilian was on something of an “economy run” for around two thirds of the race because of a fuel management problem and had to fight for all he was worth, using all his skill and experience to fend off a hard-charging Kimi Raikkonen who stuck to his tail all race long.

When the lights went out, it seemed that the script Fernando had described after Saturday’s qualifying was playing out. He had said he would hope to attack the McLarens immediately and then pursue the Red Bulls that had monopolised the front row. Webber seemed to have the edge off the line, but pole man Vettel asserted his authority, while behind, Hamilton and Button swapped sides as they tried to get the better of one another. This allowed Fernando to pass Hamilton on lap 1, while Button was dealt with four laps later. Felipe was still sixth, as his team-mate set about pursuing the flying Red Bulls. Going into this race, the lack of wear on the Pirelli tyres, both the Hard and the Soft meant that a one stop strategy was being touted as a viable alternative to a two stop and come the afternoon, the single tyre change was clearly the way to go: timing the stop right would be important therefore. Button was the first of the front runners to come in on lap 25, while Raikkonen made his change on lap 27, one ahead of Felipe. This was a fascinating contest and although the Brazilian came out ahead of the Finn, Felipe appeared to be overwhelmed by the Lotus a few corners later. But it had been a clever bluff, to ensure that the Ferrari would be behind going down the long straight and therefore secure the position for good by using the DRS to draw well past. Obviously, Raikkonen is not the sort to give up and Felipe’s mirrors were full of black Lotus all the way to the chequered flag. Fernando’s tyre change was made on lap 29.

For the Spaniard, the move from the lowest to the middle step of the podium came on lap 48 of 60, when he finally got past Webber, who was suffering from a problem with the KERS and finished third. It was the only piece of outside help Fernando got all afternoon, during a truly epic drive. Come the flag, separating Felipe from the podium trio of Vettel, Fernando and Webber were the two McLarens, with Hamilton fourth and Button fifth, while behind the Ferrari man, the rest of the points went to the tenacious Raikkonen in seventh, followed by Hulkenberg for Force India, Grosjean in the other Lotus and Senna tenth for Williams.

The Indian Grand Prix was the first of many races which will take place in the next few weeks meaning all the teams were feverishly packing up cars and equipment in the Buddh circuit paddocks straight after the race, as they have to be ready for action in a few days in Abu Dhabi, then there’s the race against the clock going on in Maranello to bring as many updates as possible for the F2012 to Arabia and on Sunday, we will have the eighteenth round of this year’s World Championship. The primary objective will be to close down Vettel’s 13 point lead over Fernando, or better still, wipe it out completely.

Ferrari comes away with twenty six points. It was Fernando’s tenth visit to the podium this season and the eleventh for the team. The Spaniard is now thirteen points down on the leader in the championship, while Felipe, with a seventh consecutive points finish, out of eleven this season, has consolidated his ninth place. Ferrari now has a ten point advantage over the third placed team in the Constructors’ classification, while the leader is 91 points ahead.

Stefano Domenicali: “What a race that was from Fernando, simply amazing! Yesterday, he’d said he would tackle this race like a sixty lap qualifying session and he was true to his word: on the attack from start to finish, the only one from the top ten on the grid to make up places by the end. This second place is all down to his talent, to his aggressive approach and the fact he never wants to give up, backed up by a team that is doing the maximum to give him a car that is worthy of him. Sure, we leave India with a bigger gap to the leader of the Drivers’ championship than when we got here, but this race should not leave those who are ahead in a calm and relaxed mood. Fernando and Ferrari will not slacken their efforts by a centimetre, right to the end of this long season. Felipe drove a good race, attacking in the first stint, but then on the defensive in the second, partly due to some limitations that occurred in the management of the fuel. In any case, his sixth place is very valuable in light of the Constructors’ classification, in which we have managed to increase our lead over the third placed team, even if the leaders have pulled even further away. There are three more finals to go, up against very strong opponents, but they are not unbeatable. I recall that, in 1982, the Italian football team was definitely not the strongest but went on to win that year’s World Cup. We believe in our chances and I’m sure that so do all our fans!”

Fernando Alonso: “We can fight the Red Bulls, but at the moment, we still don’t have a car capable of winning. Once again this year we have seen that, in the race, the situation is much better than in qualifying. A great start, a great first lap, a good top speed and the right tyre management produced, along with me driving at 120% for each of the sixty race laps, this second place. We did what we could, as at every race: if, come the end of the championship we will have won, then no one will be able to say it was down to mistakes from the others, but because we always did the maximum. We will already have some updates in Abu Dhabi: let’s hope we can make a step forward because it will be important to start making up the points gap there already. There are 75 points up for grabs which is a lot. I am still optimistic even if we are all aware that we have to improve our performance, especially on Saturday. I don’t know if this was my best performance of the season, as it’s always difficult to make that sort of call. I am particularly keen on the one in Valencia or at Monza, but this one is definitely up there: I pushed from start to finish, maybe taking some more risks in overtaking compared to previous races. Today, after the start, I tried to immediately attack the McLarens getting into their slipstream. They were fighting among themselves and maybe they forgot about me and I managed to get past at least one of them. Then I also managed to overtake Button just a few laps later, but the time lost in those few laps allowed the two Red Bulls to pull out a bit of a gap. In the second stint, I made the most of Webber’s problems with the KERS to overtake him: yet again we have seen that anything can happen and that the races are always long and difficult...”

Felipe Massa: “It was a very tough fight, from start to finish. After around 20 laps, I was told from the pitwall that I had to try and save fuel, so I ended up doing over half the race without being able to go flat out and I can assure you, it was definitely not easy, because Kimi was always very close to me. It wasn’t the result I wanted, but all the same, these are important points for the Constructors’ championship. The time lost in FP2 cost me dear, mainly because we were unable to optimise our package. The duel with Kimi after the pit stop? I managed to come out of pit lane in front, but then I let him through at Turn 3 because he was still very close and I wanted to have the DRS down the straight. I think he realised that, but by then it was too late and I had the advantage and managed to get by. Now we go to Abu Dhabi, which is something of a second home race for Ferrari, as we have the beautiful theme park there. Let’s hope we have some more updates on the car and can secure a better result than this sixth place.”

Pat Fry: “A great result considering our grid positions. Fernando produced yet another amazing performance in what has been an incredible season for him: finishing second having started fifth in a race where overtaking moves are a rare commodity, despite the double DRS zone is really an encouraging sign. Fernando made the most of the opening laps to be able to dispense with the two McLarens and then he set off in pursuit of the Red Bulls, getting past one of them. We made the most of our better top speed and the choice in terms of gear ratios. At the start, we could have opted for a two stop strategy, but as the race evolved we were able to make just one while, at least with Fernando, still being able to push from start to finish. Unfortunately, Felipe was unable to do the same because in the second part of the race, he had to manage his fuel consumption, which prevented him from getting the most out of the car. All the same, this was a positive weekend for him and he brought home points that are important for the Constructors’ championship. We must improve the performance of our car in qualifying and that’s why we are working flat out to bring some updates to every race from now to the end of the season. If we manage to get our drivers further up the starting grid, then we can put Red Bull under pressure: at the moment, Sebastian Vettel is flying away too easily, leading from the start. We know we can count on a really great driver and, alongside him, we will fight right to the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix.”