Fernando Alonso says he didn’t have the pace to finish on the podium after taking fourth place in the Japanese Grand Prix.
“It’s true that we have a lot of traffic in the race but not the pace maybe to fight with the top three,” Alonso told Sky after the race.
“They were untouchable today, both Red Bulls and Grosjean deserve to be in the podium, they’ve been a little bit quicker.
“But overall I think it was a good race recovering some of the pace that I missed in practice in qualifying.
“And important also with Mercedes’ problem today in the constructors’ championship we did some good points.”
Alonso said he was looking forward to “a new challenge and hopefully podium possibilities” at the next race in India.
“Let’s hope to come back to a more strong performance form,” he said. “We finished second in three consecutive races in Spa, in Monza and Singapore. And in Korea and Japan we struggle a little bit too much.”
“So in India the goal is to come back to three races ago and being in the podium and celebrate some of the ceremony.”
2013 Japanese Grand Prix
- Grosjean voted Driver of the Weekend for first time
- Webber still has doubts over Japanese GP strategy
- Japanese Grand Prix gets average rating for 2013
- 2013 Japanese Grand Prix team radio transcript
- 2013 Japanese Grand Prix fans’ video gallery
Image ?? Ferrari/Ercole Colombo
Force Maikel (@force-maikel)
13th October 2013, 9:46
I think he was lucky to finish 4th because that Lotus was also looking quite handy out there compared to the Ferrari.
magon4 (@magon4)
13th October 2013, 9:48
On the other hand he did have the pace for a podium finish, had he qualified better. I was watching his pace whenever he had free air. It was there, at least to battle for a 3rd place.
TheBass (@)
13th October 2013, 9:50
Interesting point. Would it had been enough to challenge Grosjean? Or Webber? He has proven he can pass Webber like nothing before. And if he had classified better he wouldn’t have lost that much time behind Hulkenberg.
Brian Gefrich
13th October 2013, 18:55
Alonso (and Kimi and a few others) spent a decent amount of time stuck behind Vettel’s future teammate running really slowly on dead tyres.
TheBass (@)
13th October 2013, 9:49
Let’s hope for a better Ferrari at 2014! Or better said, no tyre changes. And for a better performance from Alonso, he hasn’t been at his best either.
kcarrey (@kcarrey)
13th October 2013, 9:56
dear alonso, please tell that to the indians in 2 weeks’ time.
crazy.mechanic (@akshay)
13th October 2013, 10:01
If only he was as optimistic as you are.
erix
13th October 2013, 9:59
Ferrari and Lotus should swap Massa and Kimi starting now, it would benefit both of them, rather and betray each other. Kimi’s points would do nothing but hurting Lotus financial, whilst Massa just gonna make the Ferrari loosing 2nd place in the WCC.
DaveF1 (@davef1)
13th October 2013, 10:07
In fairness to Felipe he was having a pretty decent race until the penalty.
James (@jamesf1)
13th October 2013, 11:35
Interesting, I don’t recall reading that Massa has signed a contract with Lotus anywhere, so the swap would make no sense whatsoever.
erix
13th October 2013, 17:03
I hope in the future, drivers only allowed to sign new contract after the season is over, and perhaps after being paid by current team.
Now, it will be silly season to the end.
josephrobert (@josephrobert)
13th October 2013, 10:49
Not true, Hamilton touched one!
Sanchit (@sanchit)
13th October 2013, 11:24
hahahahaha and got a puncture !!!!
Hamilfan (@hamilfan)
13th October 2013, 13:42
LOL
JCost (@jcost)
13th October 2013, 14:44
Heheh. Who touched who? I thought Lewis got past Seb who was left out of room because Webber was defending his position against Lewis. That was unfortunate for Lewis.
F1 Noob (@noob)
13th October 2013, 12:07
There goes Alonso again with his mind games, implying the Redbulls had a better car and so they won, and he put that dog-cart on 4th which no body else could :p
COrrado (@)
13th October 2013, 12:42
Mmmmm….. and isn’t that true ?!?! Are you suggesting that Ferrari is on par with the RBR and Alonso is at fault for his finishes ?!?! If so, go watch something else ’cause you have no “feel” for F1 (or motorsport).
Big_chip
13th October 2013, 12:55
Well done Fernando for breaking the points record. Wouldn’t expect that mentioned on here though.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
13th October 2013, 13:43
That will be in Stats and Facts tomorrow which is where this sort of thing usually goes.
But I wouldn’t get attribute too much significance to the record for reasons that should be obvious, as described here previously.
JCost (@jcost)
13th October 2013, 14:47
Fernando talked about it on Twitter and FB, but that stat is not right. A few years ago you would get 10 for a win and now you get more than that if you finish 4th!
Elchuso
13th October 2013, 14:41
Does anybody have the faintest doubt about what Alonso is doing this year whith a patently slower car ?
He is doing magic.
This time his “team mate” kept him blocked for a long time
Whith those “friends” … Who needs enemies ??
I don’t understand why Ferrari keeps Massa driving. Just send him home and give the car to De la Rosa.
At least he won’t block Alonso.
Feuerdrache (@xenomorph91)
13th October 2013, 15:41
He’s not doing “magic” all the time. Why do you forget the first six races? It has been a better race car than the RedBull easily, nevertheless he failed to lead the championship at any point this season.
Alonso can be happy that he has a team mate who is doing him favours at all. You can’t say the same about Vettel and Webber.
COrrado (@)
13th October 2013, 16:04
I think you’re talking about somebody else, not Alonso ! Things are more than clear: he’s in F1 for more than 10 years now, he’s a proven top driver + champ…… so your comment that he had the best car but failed to score miserably is more than subjective ! That would apply to a 2nd tier driver (like Webber, Massa), but not to somebody like Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel or Raikkonen. Can’t tell for sure if only the tyres are at fault for Ferrari not too great performances, but this year the gap is bigger between RBR and Ferrari compared to last year. That’s kinda obvious (to me) !
TheBass (@)
13th October 2013, 16:19
The gap is bigger now. But before the tyre change the Red Bull and Ferrari were pretty matched. But in comparison to last year Alonso’s performance hasn’t been that special.
COrrado (@)
13th October 2013, 16:36
Let’s get over the TYRE CHANGE ! Things were pretty much the same before too ! Look at AUS: Vettel’s quali time was 1s faster than Alonso’s ! Where’re the “matched cars” ?!?! With Vettel the situation is clear: he’s on the podium or DNF. I’m having a hard time remembering when he finished a race to a different position than podium. That “means” something.
David-A (@david-a)
13th October 2013, 17:06
@corrado-dub –
a) Vettel outqualified his teammate, on that occasion, Alonso didn’t, b) in the race, it was clear as day that Red Bull and Mercedeswere struggling with tyres, compared to Ferrari and Lotus, c) even if we use qualifying as a gauge before the tyre change, it was Mercedes that took 7/10 poles, split almost evenly amongst their 2 drivers.
David-A (@david-a)
13th October 2013, 17:08
and d), that Vettel finished in the top 4 in every race back then was down to his consistency. No Alonso at Monaco, Webber in Bahrain, or Hamilton in Spain-esque performances, there.
Elchuso
13th October 2013, 16:33
When I say magic, I allways refer to his perfomance related to the state of the car.
Vettel makes “magic” obly when his RB is ok.
Alonso allways extract 150% of the Ferrari and from himself.
That was my meaning, and still stick to that.
What favors from Massa are you talking about ?
Regarding Webber. He has been tricked by his own Team again and again to impede him to win Vettel. Have a look a his 3 stop strategy today ……. Disgusting.
David-A (@david-a)
13th October 2013, 16:59
What an uneducated comment.
Webber isn’t as good on the tyres as Vettel, and couldn’t pass Grosjean despite fresher tyres- something his teammate did do. That is why he couldn’t win, period.
All drivers performances are related to the state of the car. Where do you get your figure of 150% from, and if Alonso’s performance didn’t have to do with the state of the car, then where was his title challenge this year and 2011?
COrrado (@)
13th October 2013, 19:10
I’m not talking about outqualifying their team mates. I’m talking about the raw speed of the cars, which is very important, with or w/o the tyre struggling. Then, Massa outqualified Alonso by 0,003s. Doesn’t matter if you compare Alonso or Massa to Vettel in AUS. A blink of the eye takes longer than 0,003s. So, the difference still remains +1s. Anyway, I’m still saying that RBR was/is the best car OVERALL right from the start of the season. The Mercs were there on pure speed, but only for 2-3 laps. When they had to use the same set of tyres for more than 10 laps, RBR owned them. Ferrari and Lotus were softer on the tyres, but on raw speed they were nowhere compared to RBR on most tracks. Alonso doing magic with that car may be too much to say, but he’s been great at least. If we look at Massa… the difference is kinda abysal. I’m pretty sure Grosjean will pass him in the WDC by the end of the season, so Massa will be the driver with least point from the top 4 teams… while Ferrari and Alonso will be 2nd in both champs. That says a lot about his performance…
David-A (@david-a)
13th October 2013, 19:40
@corrado-dub
And you seem to just be assuming that Alonso, who has qualified pretty poorly this year, got the maximum over one lap, when he is expected to be quicker than Massa.
RBR were the best overall, sure, but not by the 40+ margin as Vettel already had going into the summer break.
Australia- Ferrari and Lotus had superior race pace.
Malaysia- Massa lost time in traffic after a terrible start, but his final 3 stints matched the Red Bulls (look up that race’s lap charts). Alonsop couldn’t demonstrate his pace as he crashed out. The Mercs coasted around close behind the RBRs.
China/Spain- Ferrari were fastest.
Monaco/Britain/Hungary- Mercedes were at least joint fastest.
Germany- Red Bull hounded by both Lotuses.
We could look at Massa and say he’s been abysmal compared to Alonso, just as you could say Webber has been abysmal over the last 3 years to Vettel. I won’t dispute that the RBR has been the best over that time period, but I do dispute the idea that Vettel’s performance is to do with the car, when you believe Alonso’s are down to driver. Their performance is always a combo of driver and car.
Using stats like that, we could also say a lot about Vettel’s performance. Vettel alone would be leading the constructor’s championship.
Elchuso
13th October 2013, 19:48
Uneducated ?
Well ……. Ask RB why they said by radio to Vettel: “you are racing against Grosjean, not Webber”
They knew PERFECTLY that they where going to send Webber on a three tyre stops ……. Thus neutralising all advantage that Webber might have, no matter how careful he where on tires ……. PERIOD.
Webber was as fast as Vettel, but compensating a 20 seconds disadvantage by another tyre stop was enough for Vettel to win. PERIOD.
Witj 77 points advantage they could let Webber win without “multi 22” or other tricks. Said again. Disgusting ….
David-A (@david-a)
14th October 2013, 2:52
@Elchuso
Again, in a very uneducated manner, you’re only saying that in hindsight. The reason Webber was on a 3 stopper was because he couldn’t look after the tyres as well as Vettel. A 2 stopper was a marginal strategy even for Vettel, who had to keep a respectable pace to the top 2, whilst his tyres started to go off. For Webber it wouldn’t have been possible without dropping like a rock in comparison to Vettel & Grosjean.
The reason MW couldn’t execute the 3 stopper to win, was because he failed to pass Grosjean quickly- when Vettel wasted no time doing so.
He could be as fast as Vettel in qualifying when Vetel’s KERS failed, sure. He could be as fast as Vettel when Vettel is told to stay 2s behind Webber and does so, while Webber is told to do likewise to Grosjean to look after his Pirellis, but closes on him anyway, sure.
There were no tricks. If you want to be ignorant in order to deny MW’s tyre treatment, then be my guest. But there was nothing “disgusting” about the race.
TheBass (@)
13th October 2013, 16:16
Alonso has been far from magical this season.
OmarR-Pepper (@)
13th October 2013, 18:11
@silence agree with you. And even when his starts make up for his regular-to-bad qualifying (where Massa has been ahead of him more times than in previous years) he is not always driving “at his best”. That can be said this year about Hulkenberg, but not about Alonso or Kimi, who usually botch his qualis
Sauber (@mumito)
13th October 2013, 16:17
Alonso keeps on whinning. He is not even a shadow of 2012 Alonso. When he had more car than Vettel, he crashed Italia in the first lap. Move on Fernando, Seb is twice as champion as You William Ever be.
OmarR-Pepper (@)
13th October 2013, 18:13
@mumito get ready to be attacked by a #samurai horde.
On a diff line, you must be really happy for Sauber today!!!!
Sauber (@mumito)
14th October 2013, 1:55
Yes. Godo result. Nico could hace ended 4 but tires killed us. To be fair Nico gained positions in the pits…. The only way to beat Ferrari or Lotus is having perfect strategy And perfect driving.