Fernando Alonso believes that the pace shown by Ferrari during the British Grand Prix will ensure that he remains in the title hunt.
Although the Spaniard set the fastest lap of the race, this could not stop him falling further behind in the championship standings – after being handed a drive-through for illegally overtaking the Renault of Robert Kubica.
But despite this, the 28-year-old is still confident of still winning his third world title.
“I think we will win. Yes,” Alonso is quoted by Autosport as saying. “I think we lacked points in Valencia and Silverstone, but these are some moments of the championship where we needed to show that we want the championship and that we are a contender. I am more convinced than before this race that we will win the championship.”
Even before his penalty, Alonso’s British Grand Prix was handicapped from the beginning, when technical issues forced resulted in him making a poor start.
“The start was not good,” he said. “We had some clutch problems all weekend. The start from the formation lap and at the end of the pit lane were not good either, so we were not full of confidence for the start, and unfortunately it was true.
“We had a poor start and then, in the first couple of laps, we were fifth. We tried to overtake people in the stops, but it didn’t work because Robert was still in front of us after the stop.
“We had to attack to make some places and then we overtook Robert. But then I had the penalty and the safety car was deployed so we lost 14 positions in the drive-through.
“Obviously from that point it was difficult being in 18th position, so we tried to enjoy the race, make some overtaking, make some show.”
Finally, when asked if he felt his drive-through penalty had been justified he replied: “It is not my job. I drive the car. What the stewards say is always right, so that is it.”
