Q&A with Fernando Alonso

Q&A with Fernando Alonso

By Jonathan Noble Saturday, July 5th 2008, 18:18 GMT

After qualifying sixth for Sunday's British Grand Prix, former double-world champion Fernando Alonso spoke to the press about his expectations for the race, Renault-powered Red Bull Racing's, and what that performance means for his own team for the rest of the season.

Q. Is this result what you expected?

Fernando Alonso: Yes, more or less. Okay for us, sixth position is even better than we expected because we know that the top six is for Ferrari, McLaren and BMW Sauber, so it is difficult to get into those positions. With one Ferrari having problems like Felipe Massa (did), and with Robert Kubica in the garage as well, we managed to be sixth - a little bit better than we expected.

Q. Can you feel progress with the car, as you seem to be competitive on the aero tracks like here and Magny-Cours?

FA: No, not really. I think we did improve the car a little bit in the last two races but maybe not enough because Red Bull Racing are clearly ahead of us on this track.
Toyota were ahead of us in Magny-Cours, so it depends on the layout of the circuit and the conditions of the weekend. We are always behind some of our competitors. In Magny-Cours we were behind Toyota and here we are behind Red Bull Racing, so even if we improve the car the others did improve as well. So more or less we are in a similar situation and we need to do well. We need to be as consistent as possible to take points every weekend and reduce the gap.

Q. How much of a worry is it that you had another engine failure in practice?

FA: Well, not much. It is true that we had some engine problems in the last three or four weeks, but it is true also that in the race normally nothing happens because we use the best engines possible, the new parts and everything is under control. There is not too much of a concern for the race situation.

Q. How much is the wind affecting the set-up and balance of the car? How difficult is it?

FA: Well, we don't feel the wind properly or how intense it is. We just feel the direction of the wind, so more or less it has remained constant in the same direction – so always the same corners are very grippy and some of the corners are very loose because you have a tail wind. It was not a big problem today.

But tomorrow in an hour and a half race, a little change of direction in the wind changes a lot the way you do the corners. So you need to be ready, you need to be prepared to adapt your driving and your car to any change of wind direction. It will be interesting tomorrow to see how strong the wind is and in which direction it is.

Q. Did you make any set-up compromise because of the rain tomorrow?

FA: No. We normally don't make any big change for the rain, and we stay with a completely normal set-up. This morning with this normal set-up and wet conditions we were quite happy with the car as well. So if it rains tomorrow we are happy for that.

Q. Are you surprised by Mark Webber's performance today?

FA: Yes. I think the Red Bull has been performing well all weekend. Yesterday they were quick, and this morning as well. Q1 and Q2 with the same fuel for everybody, they were ahead of most of the people. Also Toro Rosso, that car is performing well here because they were really strong in qualifying. So they did well and for sure we need to improve the next coming races because Red Bull is one of our opponents this year and we need to be in front of them more often.

Q. How much should the team effort be concentrated on this year's car, and how much on next year's?

FA: I don't know. This is a question for the team. I am answering this question about the R28 and the R29 at every press conference and it is not my decision and it is not my job. So, it is a compromise. You need to work on next year's car because there is a big change of regulations. But at the same time you cannot forget 2008, because you need to finish in a good position in the constructors' championship – at least to have a good confidence and a good budget for next year. So you need to do both things at the same time.

Q. Why is a car with the same engine so far ahead of you?

FA: Well. It is something that is not the best position, but it is nothing new. Red Bull now have 24 points in the constructors' championship – and we have only 12. Mark Webber has 18 points and I have 10 points – so they are ahead of us. They have performed really well to be on the front row of the grid tomorrow, but the whole season has been like that. It is not a frustration only today. It is just a motivation for us, because we know the engine is not too bad because Red Bull Racing are at the front – so it is a motivation for us to improve our car.

Q. What difference does the forecast for mixed conditions tomorrow make on your strategy?

FA: Yeah. Not much. We have been looking at the strategy in dry conditions and wet conditions, and what will be the difference. We found the best and optimum lap to stop is about one lap different from dry to wet, so we did nothing special as for both conditions the lap we chose is the best one we think.

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