Question: Fernando, there is a lot of respect between you two at the moment. You had a great start today, fifth up to second, and you almost got close enough to Lewis at the second round of stops.
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, it was a fantastic race for me as well with a very good start and then a good first lap fighting with Jenson. Obviously with the problem with Sebastian (Vettel) we found ourselves second and then we fight all through the race more or less in a distance of three to five seconds with Lewis. Then the last pit-stop we stayed two laps longer than the McLaren and we were close I think. But we had some traffic in the pit entry, behind one HRT, and I think we lost a little bit of ground. But, anyway, with the last stint I think they had a little bit more pace so even if we were able to overtake in the stop it was difficult to win the race so extremely happy with second and enjoy this weekend.
Question: Fernando, tell us about that fantastic start.
Fernando Alonso: I don’t think it was so good. At the start, I think we lost a little bit of ground with Jenson, who was right in front of us in third, and we were fifth. Then we braked and we risked, on the outside of turn one, to overtake Mark, so we gained one position there. We gained one position with Sebastian’s accident and then one position with the slipstream with Jenson. I think we’ve had better starts than today, the start itself.
Click Here to Read More
Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton Wins Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Formula 1: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Race Results
Question: Again, just to ask you about the gap to Lewis each time; I guess you were pushing as hard as you could.
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, definitely. I think it was a time trial race, like an individual race, not against the time. I was doing like qualifying laps every lap, trying to close the gap, but one tenth up, one tenth down for the whole stint, as you said. I think we were dominated by people who were catching slower cars. When he [Hamilton] had some problems, I would maybe close the gap by like two seconds; when I had a problem, the gap increased by two seconds. We were dominated by how easy [it was to pass] or in which part of the track you caught a slow car.
Question: What are your thoughts about the next race in Brazil?
Fernando Alonso: I’m looking forward to it; it’s the last race. To be honest, I already want to have the last the race and to think about 2012 as soon as possible, not to forget this year, because I think the year in general has been quite good for the team and in general, with some good improvements from last year, but obviously we were not able to fight for the championship. We had only one victory this year so definitely next year is a big challenge for us, and a big motivation to do better than 2011. So looking at Brazil, I think the race there will be interesting. The weather is normally a little bit unpredictable, so anything can happen there and hopefully with a possibility to fight on the podium again.
Question: Fernando, after such a disappointing race here last year, does the performance make it anything special for you?
Fernando Alonso: Well, not really. I don’t think that we were thinking about last year when we came here. It doesn’t change the feeling of last year when we lost the championship at the last moment to be on the podium today. As I said on Thursday, what makes this podium special is that I think I have 73 podiums now, so 73 trophies in Formula One. I have them from all the circuits that I have raced on in Formula One, so Magny-Cours, Indianapolis - circuits which we are not racing on now and I missed only one at home, and that was Abu Dhabi, because in the three years, I have never been on the podium. So now I have completed all the circuits. So, happy.
Question: Fernando, could you please tell us what was going through your head in the second pit stop when you followed the HRT into the pits? Did you see possible victory slipping from your sights?
Fernando Alonso: We knew that maybe we could overtake the McLaren at the second stop, because when we saw Lewis pitting, we had the tyres in more or less good condition to push for another two or three laps, so we did some good timed laps, so the team was informing me that we should be OK maybe to exit in front of him or maybe on the limit, very close. But even with that, I knew that with 15 laps remaining, with the medium tyres, it was really difficult to stay in front of Lewis. Definitely, with the traffic on the pit entry, maybe we lost the opportunity to be close at the exit of the pits but I don’t think that we lost the victory there. It was extremely difficult to beat the McLaren today.
| 
|