Discuss the sport you love with other motorsport fans
Alonso Predicts Mercedes Show
"We know that we have a competitive package with both cars on the podium in Barcelona and we know that Monaco is a very unique track and you need a good set-up and confidence to drive here," he said. "But we also know Mercedes will be strong, they have been on pole position for the last three grands prix, so we have to expect them to be very strong here again.
"They were on pole here last year with Michael [Schumacher] but had a penalty. We know how difficult it is to overtake and if they are on pole position maybe they are favourites here, but we must not forget our main target is the championship and Vettel and Raikkonen are ahead of us. If Mercedes has to win one race then this is the one and we will just concentrate on finishing in front of the others."
Ahead of next weekend's Canadian Grand Prix, Pirelli is planning to tweak the tyres to return to its target of two to three pit stops per race. Red Bull has been the most vocal team to oppose the original 2013 specification tyres, arguing that it has to tell its drivers to race at 80% in order to protect the tyres. But Alonso is not convinced by his rival's protestations.
"We know that Barcelona was a good race for us and not so good for some of our competitors," he said. "Some of those competitors claim to have a super car but the last three pole positions were for another car. Sometimes when you win too easily for so many years it is difficult to lose some races."
__________________________________________________
As I said before, the Bieber syndrome...nobody takes Vettel's achievements seriously, when his teammate is treated like a 2nd grader and the car is/was just dominant. Alonso has just fanned the flames here, I LIKE!
Pete Gill wrote:">Fernando Alonso placed under investigation by Hungarian Grand Prix race stewards
Spaniard had already fallen further behind Vettel in Budapest
According to the charge, Alonso activated the DRS system on his Ferrari on three separate occasions in Sunday's race when he was more than one second behind the car in front.
Under the current rules, a pursuing car is only permitted to employ DRS when it is within one second of the car ahead when they cross into the DRS detection zone.
On a disappointing afternoon for the Spaniard and his Ferrari team, Alonso fell further behind World Championship leader Sebastian Vettel at the Hungaroring as he trailed the German over the line in a distant fifth place.
However, Alonso's afternoon may yet take a further turn for the worse after the FIA Technical Delegate Joe Bauer announced that he had been summoned to the stewards.
The statement declared: 'After the race, DRS Activation data from car number three were analysed and it was found that the driver had activated the adjustable bodywork in three occasions when he was more than one second behind another car. As this is not in conformity with article 27.5 (b) of the 2013 Sporting Regulations, I am referring this matter to the stewards'.
After the agony of defeat, success will be sweet!Alonso & Ferrari.
Will he stay or will he go?
After the agony of defeat, success will be sweet!Staff wrote:">Alonso dismisses Red Bull link
July 28, 2013
Fernando Alonso says he is happy at Ferrari amid speculation he is considering a switch to Red Bull in 2014.
Alonso's manager held a meeting with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner in Hungary, prompting rumours that Alonso could be in the frame to replace Mark Webber at the end of the season. Having lost out to Sebastian Vettel in the championship over the last three seasons, Alonso was asked if he's committed to Ferrari and happy to remain even if the title continues to elude him.
"I'm very happy," Alonso said. "Of course we need to improve the car if we are going to have chances to win the world championship.
"Always with four weeks with no Formula One it's a very dangerous period for [the media] so hopefully we will have a quiet summer."
Reflecting on his race in Hungary - in which he finished a distant fifth - Alonso said his lack of race pace could be attributed to the updated Pirelli tyres.
"I think we need to look at the details. It's true that with degradation we have been historically good, but we saw on Friday's long runs that we were not very competitive here. We had some doubts, we changed some things today which did not improve the situation too much.
"We have been half-surprised, we need to improve the situation. With the 2013 tyres we had very good degradation similar to Lotus - or more similar to Lotus than the other cars - and with the 2012 tyres it seems we are much closer to the higher degradation cars than Lotus. So it's something we will need to improve."
After the agony of defeat, success will be sweet!
Wasn't the move to Ferrari also played down in 2009?
I don't believe that it will happen, but we all know that contracts don't mean much in F1.
After the agony of defeat, success will be sweet!See our F1 related articles too!
