ALONSO: “VERY COMFORTABLE FROM DAY ONE”
Sakhir, 11 March – Fernando Alonso took part in his first FIA media conference as a Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver this afternoon, sitting alongside the man who took the Prancing Horse to so much success over the years – Michael Schumacher. “The racing. racing again,” said the Spaniard enthusiastically when asked what he was most looking forward to this weekend. “I have driven the car all through winter testing, but that is just preparation and now we can finally go racing.” As for his switch to Ferrari, Fernando was equally positive. “When you change team, you need to adapt to the people and their work philosophy and pre-season that has all gone great. I felt very comfortable right from day one to now and we are well prepared and I am ready for the fight.”
As for the results of testing, Alonso did not consider them too important. “We are not in a position to compare times or to make predictions. We can say that four teams, Red Bull, Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari can all be favourites to win here and then there are other teams like Force India and Sauber who could also have some good races. My goal is to win the championship, but I want to be World Champion in November, not in March. It will be a very hard job. I have spent all winter getting ready and I have also waited a long time to come to Ferrari, so it has all been about preparing for this moment and I think we are in a position to fight for the wins.”
Fernando felt the rule changes in force for the first time this weekend are a good thing. “I am happy with them, as it represents a new challenge for all of us – the engineers, the teams and the drivers. Any change is welcome as it offers us the possibility of discovering new elements to our sport. But we need to give it time to see if it produces spectacular or boring races.”
Alonso is also looking forward to racing against Schumacher again. “It is good for all of us in the sport that he is back,” he said, as the German leaned over to give him a hug! “What Michael has done in the sport will be hard to repeat, with all his titles, wins and pole positions. Winning a race or the title with Michael on the track will give it an extra something.”
ALONSO: “VERY COMFORTABLE FROM DAY ONE” | European Motor News