TODAY 6 FEB Exclusive Ferrari News

...Fernando Alonso had a very unlucky day: on the opening lap, the Spaniard was the innocent victim, as Rubens Barrichello, in his three hundredth grand prix appearance, lost control of his Williams, crashing into the Ferrari at the chicane, so that Fernando had to limp back to the pits rejoining in eighteenth place, after the mechanics fitted intermediate tyres to deal with rain that was much less intense that expected. “I think this is a positive result and, given the way the race went and the accidents that put Vettel and Button out of the game, we can even say we were a bit lucky,” said Massa.

For Alonso the race, at least, got off to a good start.

“At the start, I immediately made up some places and the signs were that I could have a good race,” he explained. “Then, I found myself in the wrong place at the wrong time, when Rubens could not control his car under braking and crashed into me. I came straight back to the pits to change the tyres and to check the car was alright, when we fitted intermediate tyres, expecting more persistent and harder rain, but that was not the case.”

This decision meant Alonso then had to make a further stop to return to slicks. From then on, he battled his way up the order, but it all came to nothing with a spin seven laps from the flag, that left his F10 beached on a kerb, parked across the track.

“Yesterday we were hoping for rain, but when it came it was already too late to be of much use to me; on the contrary it prevented me from getting the chance to overtake the cars which would have had to stop to fit the soft tyres,” said Alonso. “Then I went off the track, when I went over a kerb and that was my race over: a shame even if the points I could have brought home would not have been a lot. It is very disappointing, because this is a bad result, but it does not mean I have given up on my chances of winning the title.”

The race was won by Lewis Hamilton for McLaren, with Mark Webber second in the Red Bull, ahead of the Renault of Robert Kubica. The Scuderia is still third in the Constructors’ classification, but the gap to second placed McLaren has now grown. However, two of the main contenders for the Drivers’ championship, Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button failed to score points today.

The race started in the dry, with pole man Webber slow to get away, so that Hamilton took a lead he would never lose throughout the 44 laps, while Felipe had briefly moved up to fourth as the Safety Car came out after various incidents, including the one involving Fernando. When the race resumed on lap 4, the order at the front was Hamilton, Button, Kubica, Vettel, Webber, Massa.

By this stage, several cars had fitted intermediate tyres, when a brief shower arrived, although in fact, the track dried so quickly, that those drivers, including Fernando, had to re-pit to return to slicks. In the dry, Fernando started to carve his way through the slower cars. While Hamilton built up a comfortable lead, behind him, everyone from Button to Felipe were all very close; too close in the case of Vettel, who crashed into Button, forcing the McLaren man to retire on lap 15. This meant that by lap 17, Felipe was fourth behind the leading trio and Fernando had moved up to ninth.

The Brazilian pitted for fresh tyres on lap 23, at which point, Webber moved into second, as Kubica had a poor pit stop, but not poor enough for Felipe to get by him.

The rain returned on lap 33 and gradually built in intensity, to the point that extreme rain tyres would be the ideal choice, but by then Fernando had his spin, which meant the Safety Car came out again, as his car was blocking the track, the race resuming for a short sprint for four laps. Felipe’s fourth place was not under threat, as for much of the race, the Brazilian had a lonely race, too far behind to mount a threat for third place, but comfortably ahead of fifth placed Sutil.

“This weekend definitely did not end well for us, even if Felipe’s fourth place, at the end of an impeccable and error free race in conditions that were far from easy, is an important result,” said Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari Team Director. “Fernando saw his race compromised right from the first lap, the unwitting victim of an accident and then, despite fighting his way up the order, he ended up off the track in the sort of incident that can easily happen in a rain-affected race. Apart from that, and any other considerations, we must recognise that our performance in this Grand Prix did not match our expectations and interrupted a positive trend that began a few races ago: we have to understand why immediately and take the necessary countermeasures.

The situation in both championships is certainly more difficult, but it is still not impossible for us to reach our targets: for those with short memories, I remember that three years ago, we found ourselves in a much worse situation and we all know how it went in the end.”