F1 News
Date:
14/April/2013
Fernando Alonso delivered the perfect response to his
Malaysian non-score with a textbook victory in Sunday’s Chinese F1 Grand Prix
at Shanghai.
The Ferrari star, who had not won since round ten of last
year’s Championship, controlled the race from the middle stages and swept to
victory by 10-seconds from Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen.
“It feels great. After the retirement in Malaysia, we had
some pressure to finish the race,” admitted Alonso.
“It was nearly a perfect Sunday for us. The start was clean
and we managed to overtake Kimi. And then in the first stint we managed to pass
Lewis [Hamilton] as well.
“For the rest of the race, you need to take care of the
tyres and manage the gap with the guys behind.
“Of the two races we have finished this year, one was in second
place and the other victory, so definitely it’s a positive start to this Championship.”
Alonso is now third in the standings, nine points behind
leader Sebastian Vettel. Red Bull’s reigning triple Champion had sacrificed a
chance of pole to start the race on the harder tyre, but it didn’t pay off and
he lost out on third in the race by just 0.2s to Hamilton.
With Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber retiring due to a
detached rear wheel, the title top four - Vettel, Raikkonen, Alonso and
Hamilton - are covered by 13-points. There is then a ten-point drop to fifth
place Felipe Massa, Alonso’s team-mate.
Nevertheless, the Shanghai top three - all former world
champions - insisted it is still too soon to spot the ‘real’ Championship
contenders.
“It’s a little bit too early to say,” commented Alonso. “We
need to wait until maybe after the summer break to clearly see the real
contenders. Hopefully we are in that group.
“I think at the moment Lotus, Red Bull and Mercedes are in
the same position as us. I don’t see
anyone who has a clear advantage,” added the Spaniard, who lost out to Vettel
at the final round of 2012.
“Let’s wait and see what updates each team brings and how
luck plays out during the year.”
Round one winner Raikkonen, who finished the race with a
damaged front wing after contact with McLaren’s Sergio Perez, added:
“As Fernando said, from race to race, one team is a little
bit stronger at one race and the next race is a different story. I think all
four teams are close to each other… it will be interesting.”
Hamilton, starting from his first Mercedes pole and celebrating
back-to-back podiums, concurred:
“It’s a bit open at the moment. Obviously Fernando is doing
a great job, but as we have seen, anyone can have problems.”
F1 now heads straight to Bahrain for next weekend’s fourth
round of 19.
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