Fernando Alonso doubts he can repeat perfection of 2012 F1 campaign

[varun]

Fernando Alonso doubts he can repeat perfection of 2012 F1 campaign


Fernando Alonso FerrariFernando Alonso believes it will be near impossible for him to repeat the perfection of his 2012 performance in the future, the Spaniard insisting he had a flawless season.

Despite having an inferior car for most of the season, Alonso took the championship battle down to the wire and lost out to Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel's by just three points.

The Ferrari driver won three races and finished on the podium 13 times out of 20 races.

The Spaniard feels there was nothing he could have done better.

"You just have the feeling that some years you have done a good job and others when you feel there was something missing or something you wanted to change or want to improve for next year," Alonso told reporters during a Santander media event in Madrid.

"I think it's been a perfect year. It's going to be nearly impossible to repeat that in my career."

Ferrari had a poor start to the year in winter testing after its car proved to be very far from the pace of its main rivals ahead of the start of the season.

Alonso is convinced there is no way the start of next season can be any worse, although he concedes Red Bull will still be the favourite given its late-season form.

"A worst start would be impossible," he said.

"We were some 2.5 seconds off the pace in the Jerez test when the car made its debut, so it's nearly impossible that it will be worse, and so I expect a better start.

"But there's no doubt that Red Bull will be favourite at the start. They finished the season with a pretty strong dominance and [the] rules are more of less the same.

Fernando Alonso Ferrari"They had a seven, eight-tenth advantage so we need to close that gap in two months, which is not easy.

"There will be a lot of work, but the starting point will be much better than last year, which is not hard."

Despite admitting Ferrari will have to work hard to catch up with its rivals, the two-time champion remains hopeful that the Maranello squad can become the team to beat.

"I hope so. That's every team's goal: to be first and second on Saturday and first and second on Sunday. There are a few teams who have managed that recently," he said.

"McLaren has done that a few times. Red Bull has done it over the past years. Even Lotus, there were times when they had both drivers on the podium.

"We haven't been able to do the job properly when it comes to the car performance, and that's one of the goals for next year.

"But it was also the goal for this year and it wasn't to be, so next year we will try to reach it."

Courtesy:www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/104805

Still hoping he does the same what he did in 2012 but with a faster car..

"But there's no doubt that Red Bull will be favourite at the start. They finished the season with a pretty strong dominance and [the] rules are more of less the same.


Despite admitting Ferrari will have to work hard to catch up with its rivals, the two-time champion remains hopeful that the Maranello squad can become the team to beat.

Why are we bfore start of the season thinking that Redbull will dominate..
why cant we do the same!!

[Hermann]

Without a big rule change its obvious RB will be the favourite again but that doesn't mean we won't fight for the title again as well, and i'm sure both our drivers will be more than motivated to give their very best. And thats good enough for me.

[Massimo]

Fernando must still feel gutted, and who can blame him, he gave it his absolute best, and it wasn't enough.
Hope he and Felipe enjoy their well deserved hollidays, i'm sure the 5th of February at Jerez they'll be more than ready.

Sempre Forza Ferrari!

[fratelliferrari]

Iam sure they will give their full 110% next year as well! Go Felipe and Fernando

[theforce]

unless Ferrari close the gap real good, Seb will likely make a run from the start since Lewis will be in a uncompetitive car and Jenson is simply crap.

[fratelliferrari]

You may be right but I think Ferrari will be closer to Red Bull at the beginnig of the season then last year.

[Pekka]

How much is Alonso being paid next year and onwards for probably not being able to deliver as good results as he has this season?

Please get Button!

[Tifoso]

How much is Alonso being paid next year and onwards for probably not being able to deliver as good results as he has this season?

Please get Button!

[Tobes]

i'm sure the 5th of February at Jerez they'll be more than ready.

As long as we're not 2.5secs off The Red Bulls at Jerez again Fernando won't have to repeat his heroic drives to have a better season, and it really is inconceivable we'll be that slow again...

:xmassmile:

[Hermann]

How much is Alonso being paid next year and onwards for probably not being able to deliver as good results as he has this season?

Please get Button!

What exactly are you doing here?

[varun]

unless Ferrari close the gap real good, Seb will likely make a run from the start since Lewis will be in a uncompetitive car and Jenson is simply crap.

Exactly..
Since lewis is now not in a very fast car...there is no one to stop pettel and thus we have to step up this time...

[bluesilhouettes]

Dont worry, FM will take care all of them.

[Hornet]

How much is Alonso being paid next year and onwards for probably not being able to deliver as good results as he has this season?

Please get Button!

You just want Ferrari to have a slower driver so Kimi can have a small chance of winning next year :xmasredface:

[Katu]

You just want Ferrari to have a slower driver so Kimi can have a small chance of winning next year :xmasredface:

exactly

[71dino]

hopefully, he will have a better car to work with.

[Elvis]

I believe that Alonso is still in his prime and nothing suggests that he can't repeat this year performance. I even think he would perform even better next year with a better car.

[fratelliferrari]

I can't believe we will be 2.5 sec off the red bull this year like it was the case last year. The rules aren't changed very much so Red Bull will probably be a bit faster in Jerez but I don't think the gap will be that big!

[Massimo]

How much is Alonso being paid next year and onwards for probably not being able to deliver as good results as he has this season?

Please get Button!

The only reason i'd want Button at Ferrari, is that he brings his missus to every race. :xmasbiggrin:

[Katu]

The only reason i'd want Button at Ferrari, is that he brings his missus to every race. :xmasbiggrin:

that would be the same as saying that i want our drivers to get to the podium, because i like to watch them without helmet much more than with helmets on :xmastongue:

[stefa]

unless Ferrari close the gap real good, Seb will likely make a run from the start since Lewis will be in a uncompetitive car and Jenson is simply crap.

Well said. This is our biggest fear.

[Rishu]

MS had his best year in 1998, still came back 5 titles bang bang..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Massimo]

that would be the same as saying that i want our drivers to get to the podium, because i like to watch them without helmet much more than with helmets on :xmastongue:

As long as they get to the podium, it's fine by me
But for Pekka to suggest that their is a causal relationship between the amount of money Ferrari pay Alonso and the chance of him winning the WDC is nonsense

[F2002]

It's a difficult one to judge in reality.

Ferrari started the 2012 season with a huge raw deficit when compared to its main rivals, yet if you look at the standings, you'll see that Fernando managed to score more points in the first half of the season than he did in the second half. Of course, we need to take into consideration his two DNFs during this latter part of the championship, however RBR itself improved considerably as well, and became more consistent as the season progressed.

I have always felt that when Fernando refers to 2012 as a "perfect" season, he is referring to his extraordinary performance during that very first part of the championship, when the car was so bad compared to the rest of the field. And, because he knows that this performance was also in a way helped by a scrambled grid (Vettel won only once in the first ten races), he is also aware that it is going to be very difficult for these conditions to be repeated. If the second half of the season is anything to go by, then RBR continues to be the most significant threat, with a smaller but a more consistent advantage over Ferrari than the one they had at the beginning.

At the same time, Ferrari enters the 2013 season with a stronger Felipe Massa than the one we had in the first part of 2012. This means that he can take points away from the main rivals, for himself to start with, but also for Fernando, if Ferrari's policy continues to be one which aims to make Alonso WDC. From our perspective as fans, we'd love to think that both will start the season with an equal chance of winning, how true is that is a matter of debate.

Because the 2013 rules will be approximately the same as those we had this year, it will be interesting to measure the potential improvement in each car's performance, the big question being whether RBR's main rivals will be able to extract more potential from their cars than RBR itself. I don't know how big is the engineering gap between the 2013 spec and the new 2014 rules, but this could certainly have an impact on how much effort is actually dedicated to improving the cars during 2013, which will either mean that RBR will continue to enjoy its advantage or that RBR will not be able to improve the car dramatically, giving a chance to the rest of the field to catch up by improving their own 2012 baselines. In this case, Ferrari will need to be careful not to be outplayed by Mclaren and Lotus, and of course by Mercedes, whom I believe will have a better season with Lewis Hamilton in the cockpit.

Either way, our drivers will have to give their 110%, like they did in 2012, and hope that the relative balance of performance shifts in favour of Ferrari as the development race continues to unfold.

[Massimo]

As long as we're not 2.5secs off The Red Bulls at Jerez again Fernando won't have to repeat his heroic drives to have a better season, and it really is inconceivable we'll be that slow again...

:xmassmile:

There were a number of factors, the wind tunnels (or the software to analyse the data), a to aggressive DRS system punishing us in qualifying, because after closing it, it stalled and didn't feed the diffuser right away creating a very unstable rear side, basically the whole rear gave us a lot of problems.
The DRS problem in qualifying shouldn't be that big anymore, since it's only allowed in designated areas, and i sincerely hope they've sorted out the wind tunnel problems, whatever the problem was.


I assume that our engineers are capable enough to fix the rear side problems, and we have some very capable new people.
Ben Agathangelou working on new programs to better understand and analyze the wind tunnel data, Loic Bigois as new head of aero, and former McLaren head of aero David Sanchez working on the front and backwings.
I think we're in good shape, Red Bull will still be fast, but we will be a lot closer to them, and who knows, maybe ahead.

Sempre Forza Ferrari!

[Massa#1]

unless Ferrari close the gap real good, Seb will likely make a run from the start since Lewis will be in a uncompetitive car and Jenson is simply crap.

What a nonsense post. Crap infact.

Put jenson in a fast car he wins races, like most drivers do (well ones that are allowed to race), so judging by you insane assessment virtually the entire grid in crap.

[Greig]

What a nonsense post. Crap infact.

Put jenson in a fast car he wins races, like most drivers do (well ones that are allowed to race), so judging by you insane assessment virtually the entire grid in crap.

LOL Jenson was dominated by Lewis in his fast car.

[Massa#1]

The same jenson that outscored lewis?.....................er lol.

[wisepie]

I'm sure Fernando will be just as capable of delivering his 2012 form again, just that this time he should be able to capitalise on it by having a better car and a rejuvenated Felipe to back him up, although there's no guarantee that Felipe will stand aside for him if his season starts well. Felipe has been denied the crown before and given the right car, he's as fast as anyone.

[Greig]

The same jenson that outscored lewis?.....................er lol.

In 2011? when Lewis had possibly his worst ever season?

You only seem to appear to bum up other drivers or attack at Fernando, strange one.

[Tobes]

There were a number of factors, the wind tunnels (or the software to analyse the data), a to aggressive DRS system punishing us in qualifying, because after closing it, it stalled and didn't feed the diffuser right away creating a very unstable rear side, basically the whole rear gave us a lot of problems.
The DRS problem in qualifying shouldn't be that big anymore, since it's only allowed in designated areas, and i sincerely hope they've sorted out the wind tunnel problems, whatever the problem was.


I assume that our engineers are capable enough to fix the rear side problems, and we have some very capable new people.
Ben Agathangelou working on new programs to better understand and analyze the wind tunnel data, Loic Bigois as new head of aero, and former McLaren head of aero David Sanchez working on the front and backwings.
I think we're in good shape, Red Bull will still be fast, but we will be a lot closer to them, and who knows, maybe ahead.

Sempre Forza Ferrari!

There really was a number of issues with the car last year, as you say, the wind tunnel issues combined with the DRS really hurt us in quali, you definately know more about the current aero staff, will happily accept (and hope) you're right and we're in good shape, one thing's for sure, it can't be as bad as this year's car when it appeared at Jerez... :xmassmile: