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View Full Version : Alonso admits second place feels like victory



vcs316
27th July 2014, 18:10
He took his turn at the head of the field in the Hungarian Grand Prix, but Fernando Alonso admitted that ultimately finishing second still felt like a win.

The Spaniard found himself in a tense three-way battle for the lead with ten laps to go, defending from Lewis Hamilton and a charging Daniel Ricciardo, but the Red Bull man was on fresher tyres and comfortably despatched both champions in his way. Alonso then had to defend from Hamilton, and their scrap allowed Nico Rosberg to close in.

Despite reporting that his tyres were worn well beyond being competitive, Alonso somehow kept both Mercedes at bay to claim second spot, his best result of a difficult season so far.

“It means a lot as we've had some tough races,” the Ferrari veteran admitted, “To see one Ferrari on the podium is the best news, and we took the opportunity today after a difficult race.”

A torrential downpour 60 minutes ahead of the start caused much head-scratching amongst the teams, but all drivers ultimately started on Pirelli's intermediate tyre before switching to one of the slick compounds as a safety car presented an ideal opportunity to stop in the pits. Alonso, who had made a great start to be running in the top four from fifth on the grid, had to wait a lap longer than those behind him as the leading quartet were already passed pit entry when the safety car appeared, but nevertheless found himself back at the front as the various strategies played out.

“Unfortunately, the first safety car went out when we were in the last corner, so we missed the opportunity to stop and lost a couple of places,” he confirmed, “Then we had to attack and overtake a couple of people.

“It was definitely was a surprise to find out that I was leading the race when Ricciardo and [Felipe] Massa pitted, so we said let's give our maximum for three of four laps to open a gap before we stop and then see if we are in the fight. Then we realised there were not so many laps to the end and it was a difficult call whether to stop and try to push to finish fourth, or keep going and risk going over the cliff on tyres and finishing fourth of fifth or whatever.

“We really needed these points and defended the position as much as we could. I think we took the right decision to stay out and defend the position and second place tastes like a victory to us.”

Despite the result, which helped lift Ferrari back above Williams in the constructors' standings, Alonso insists that it doesn't change much regarding the Scuderia's season.

“Today we had a bit of a [unusual] race and took the opportunity that we had in front of us,” he reasoned, “I think the cars behind us had some issues - Rosberg, Hamilton yesterday in qualifying, Hulkenberg in the last corner today - so we took benefit from this and secured some very good points for the team.”

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You were fantastic today Fernando! Grande!!

Hornet
27th July 2014, 18:31
The best part for me is that Alonso was genuinely fighting for the win. This is something we haven't done in awhile. Hopefully it will be more common in 2015 ;-)

Also glad to see the guys celebrating the podium ceremony. A perfect way to sign off for the summer break

Nova
28th July 2014, 02:48
All the Ferrari people were going crazy. Loved it. Kimster didnt do 2 bad either aey....

ARUN M KARUNAN
28th July 2014, 04:41
Love u red

ARUN M KARUNAN
28th July 2014, 04:41
Love u red

karvyin12
28th July 2014, 08:02
The Best race in 2014 so far... Fabulous Fernando, Great Kimi... :thumb

stefa
28th July 2014, 09:29
so glad for this result before summer break. Team and we tifosi needed this.

ManFromMilan
28th July 2014, 09:53
so glad for this result before summer break. Team and we tifosi needed this.


So true, let's hope for a more productive end to the season for Ferrari

:ferrarifl

Stormy
28th July 2014, 19:23
Maybe after the break we can snatch a victory this season, that will feel great.

SilverSpeed
28th July 2014, 19:41
Yeah a season without a win... Can't think about it!

sweeper1101
29th July 2014, 05:08
1st time I was on my feet... literally this season.
Strategy well played out.

fratelliferrari
29th July 2014, 09:48
This break always feels forever for me! Hopefully we can improve during the break so we can have a good 2nd part of the season :-D

mirafiori
29th July 2014, 10:48
so glad for this result before summer break. Team and we tifosi needed this.

Totally agree with you, wow what a lot of support from the Ferrari fans at this circuit, is it always like that at Hungary Stefa.?

speedmaster
29th July 2014, 11:29
What a drive by Alonso...

James Allen - "In practice sessions and the race to that point, no-one had done 32 laps on a set of softs, which is what Alonso would need to do in order to make it to the finish without stopping. From practice the predictions ere 21 laps maximum. Factor in cooler temperatures and you could push it to 25 laps. Add in some skilled tyre management by the driver and you might get to 28-29 laps. But 32 laps was hard to imagine. It highlights what an outstanding drive it was by Alonso."

Rishu
29th July 2014, 11:32
On top of that, they were used set of softs

fratelliferrari
29th July 2014, 14:27
On top of that, they were used set of softs

:-E

stefa
30th July 2014, 08:24
Totally agree with you, wow what a lot of support from the Ferrari fans at this circuit, is it always like that at Hungary Stefa.?

since my first visit back in 1995 there we always more Ferrari supportrrs than any others. I have saying that Ferrari is always performing in front of home crowd no mather on which track they are racing, coz there are always more ferrari flags than any others.

fratelliferrari
30th July 2014, 09:42
since my first visit back in 1995 there we always more Ferrari supportrrs than any others. I have saying that Ferrari is always performing in front of home crowd no mather on which track they are racing, coz there are always more ferrari flags than any others.

Sorry but I can't agree with that. I have been to Spa many times and the last couple of years there were way more RB fans than Ferrari! When I was in Germany a few weeks ago there were a lot more Merc fans than Ferrari! But as said before, I think F1 attracts a lot of gloryhunters in my opinion.

stefa
30th July 2014, 11:03
Sorry but I can't agree with that. I have been to Spa many times and the last couple of years there were way more RB fans than Ferrari! When I was in Germany a few weeks ago there were a lot more Merc fans than Ferrari! But as said before, I think F1 attracts a lot of gloryhunters in my opinion.

Completely agree with gloryhunters statement. But you have agree that on every track around the world there are always Ferrari flags!!!!

fratelliferrari
30th July 2014, 11:54
Completely agree with gloryhunters statement. But you have agree that on every track around the world there are always Ferrari flags!!!!

I have to agree with that :-D It's good to know there are real tifosi at every track :thumb

crn12
30th July 2014, 12:50
Are the teams allowed to work during this break? Im not too sure but I remember that all the machines are stopped, I guess except for the designers there cant be any production or manufacturing of components neither can be a tunnel use ..

Hornet
30th July 2014, 13:12
Are the teams allowed to work during this break? Im not too sure but I remember that all the machines are stopped, I guess except for the designers there cant be any production or manufacturing of components neither can be a tunnel use ..
Every teams are forced to shut down for 2 weeks. They can work for the other 2 weeks of summer break.