F1 News
Date:
7/September/2013
Fernando Alonso insisted that radio messages broadcast
during qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix have been ‘misunderstood’.
Alonso qualified a reasonable fifth on the grid for
Ferrari’s all-important home race - but was slower than both team-mate Felipe
Massa and also the Ferrari-powered Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg, who took a shock
third.
Messages broadcast during the session, with Alonso speaking
in Italian, appeared to criticise the Ferrari team, including the phrase “You're
really geniuses, guys”.
It was thought that Alonso was frustrated at efforts by the
team to arrange a tow behind Massa, but Alonso later claimed he had been
referring to traffic and made a point of praising the team.
Alonso stated: “The radio messages have been misunderstood,
as is often the case when you don’t experience something first hand: the word
‘genius’ refers to the fact that we could have got out before Rosberg had gone
by on his quick lap, but this should not raise any doubts about the impeccable
job from the whole team.”
Massa had attempted to tow Alonso on several occasions
during the third and final part of qualifying. Yet the Brazilian seemed too far
ahead and the fact he set a quicker lap than Alonso suggested the tactic had
not worked.
However Alonso insisted everything had gone to plan.
“Here at Monza the slipstreaming strategy is often used:
having a car three to four seconds ahead of you allows you to gain a few tenths
and for that I must thank Felipe, especially in Q3 when I came up behind
Vergne’s Toro Rosso and he waited for me.”
Alonso will start the Italian Grand Prix 46 points behind
Championship leader Sebastian Vettel, who qualified on pole position by 0.2s
from Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber.
“Today, we were able to run competitively in all three
sessions and get closer than ever before to the rear wings of the Red Bulls:
for the first time, there are not so many cars between them and us, apart from
Hulkenberg who was very strong in Q3,” said Alonso.
“We will have to try and pass him on the first lap so they
don’t get away from us.”
No comments:
Post a Comment