Disappointment for Alonso While Red Bull Self Destruct
May 31st, 2010
The Spanish driver Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) could only finish in eighth place in the Turkish Grand Prix yesterday, one position behind teammate Felipe Massa, after a disappointing weekend for his Ferrari team in the seventh round of F1 World Championships.
The race itself turned out to be a controversial battle between Red Bull and McLaren and was full of excitement. The strong pace of both Vettel and Webber (Red Bull) on the famous fast corner of turn 8 at the Istanbul circuit, meant that they led for much of the race, and although the McLaren drivers appeared faster overall, easily keeping pace, they were unable to overtake their rivals and a Red Bull one two seemed inevitable. However, in an extraordinary incident with just 18 laps to go, Vettel attempted an overtaking move on teammate Webber to take the lead – Webber held firmly to his line, before Vettel appeared to veer across his teammate, sending both Red Bull cars off the track. Vettel was forced to retire while Webber managed to pit and return back on track in third position as the McLaren cars of Hamilton and Button sailed into the lead,
With both McLaren drivers instructed to save fuel, Hamilton was taken by surprise on lap 50 when Button managed to pass him, however Hamilton was not about to give up the lead without a fight and some excellent racing saw him retake Button just a few corners later. After seeing the Red Bull team self destruct, both drivers were then forcefully instructed to save fuel and went on to safely take the chequered flag.
After the race, Alonso was questioned on the possibilities of his Italian team challenging for podium positions but admitted that that “Red Bull and McLaren-Mercedes are very, very far away at the moment but I hope to have a stronger fight in Canada. We were surprised that we were not to competitive both here and in Barcelona, but currently we are at the same level of Renault and that is not good enough. For Canada we will have some improvements to the car, a specific package, but we know that McLaren and Red Bull are very strong. We will have to work nonstop between now and November to challenge for the championship,” said Alonso.
The two times Asturian world champion, who started from twelfth place after a mistake in qualifying, said he knew that it was going to be a “complicated” race to from the start, and was not expecting to make up many positions. “Our races are not going well,” lamented the Ferrari driver, who still managed to look on the positive side. “We are still scoring points, but we want more. We do not have the fastest car at this time, but even so, I still have one more point that Vettel, so it could be a lot worse” he concluded.
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