F1 News
Date: 11/October/2012
The final five races of the 2012 F1 World Championship will start with Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel separated by just four points, heading into this weekend’s Korean Grand Prix.
Ferrari’s Alonso lost much of his 29-point advantage when he crashed out at turn one of last Sunday’s Japanese race, after contact with the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen.
Reigning double World Champion Vettel won for Red Bull at Suzuka, just as he had in the previous Singapore race, putting the pair almost neck-and-neck after 15 rounds.
Speaking at the Yeongam Circuit on Thursday, Alonso insisted it is business as usual.
“We all need some good points this weekend,” shrugged the Spaniard, “it’s the same situation for everybody, if not worse, so that’s it.
“We have been pushing from the first test in the winter, so nothing has changed for the last five races,” he continued. “We just need to keep doing the things we’ve been doing so far.
“I think it has nearly been a perfect championship for us. Everything we had in our hands on each Sunday we have maximised. We had one non-score in Spa and one in Suzuka but those were completely outside of our team.
“We’ve been more or less competitive in the last eight, ten races - maybe not the fastest but always in position to fight for podiums. I think here will be no different.”
Man-of-the-moment Vettel won last year’s Korean Grand Prix and has traditionally enjoyed a strong end to the season.
“I have good holidays in the summer, so I should consider doing the same in the winter!” joked Vettel, when asked why his results are usually better in the second half of the Championship.
Looking ahead, the young German warned that each of the five remaining rounds could see ‘surprise’ performances.
“We have seen this year that there are a lot of cars that can surprise. In Barcelona for instance, where the Williams was very competitive. Pastor [Maldonado] drove a fantastic race and won. In China Nico [Rosberg] was very strong and won the race so there's more than one or two cars that are able to win.
“It has been the story of the championship. It has been up and down. Same for us, we have good races, bad races. I think the last couple of races were good for us but again, only three races ago we didn't finish the race in Monza.
“Things can change quickly, so we need to stay focused and concentrated on what we have. Whether there is a trend where we do better in the second half I don't know, but throughout the season we are pushing very hard, trying to get our maximum.”
Vettel also insisted that McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton - the only other triple race winner of the year - is still a contender. Hamilton is fourth in the Championship and 42 points behind Alonso.
“I think they are still fighting for the championship,” said Vettel. “They are the ones which will be very competitive, no matter where we go, at least that's what the last couple of races showed. I think they still have a very good chance.”
Raikkonen is five points ahead of Hamilton, but yet to win a race in 2012.
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