Question: Fernando, you said pole yesterday was special, so what does that make today’s win on Ferrari’s home soil?
Fernando Alonso: Well, something only we can compare with the feeling I had in 2006 winning in Barcelona my home Grand Prix. It was a very special moment that one and this is a very special moment this one as well. Fantastic feeling. Very tough race. Very strong opposition today with fantastic drive from Jenson and we tried to put both Ferraris in the first two positions. After the start it was difficult with Jenson’s good start and good pace. But the team did a fantastic job again with a fantastic spit stop and thanks to them we are sitting here. We made the overtake in the garage.
Question: What were you thinking when you saw Jenson peel into the pit lane? Did you think it was Christmas?
Fernando Alonso: No, we were thinking at that time to be honest about the possibility of coming in. The possibilities were two, coming in one lap earlier or one lap later. We had to find the right choice and the right moment. When we saw Jenson coming it was one of the two possibilities we had. There was one lap to push and rely on the mechanics. I think the lap was more or less okay, nothing special, but the pit stop was superb.
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Formula 1: Pole Sitter Fernando Alonso Wins Italian Grand Prix
Formula 1: Italian Grand Prix - Race Results
Question: Fernando, you are right back in the championship. Are you feeling quite confident after this result?
Fernando Alonso: Well, I think any good result gives you extra confidence and some good motivation for the whole team to keep working hard and try not to give up at any point in the championship. We know that one race, good race or bad race, can change the positions in the championship a lot with the new points system. We need to remain calm. This was a good weekend for us. In Spa it was a bad weekend for us. We need to try to find some consistency in the last five races and we need to be fighting for the podium. That will be the key. This result is a good motivation for all us. But the remaining five races are really important with good points. We need to enjoy tonight, enjoy the next two days. I will be in Maranello Monday and Tuesday, so try to say thanks to the whole team and championship-wise it is time to think later on.
Question: Fernando, standing on that rostrum has got to be the greatest experience, hasn’t it?
Fernando Alonso: Yes. As I said in the other room it is something really only possible to compare with the Spanish Grand Prix victory I had in 2006. Very, very special win this one and very special feelings right now. Difficult to express but really emotional win.
Question: The important of this race is massive as well in terms of the championship.
Fernando Alonso: Well, regarding the results now at the end of the race knowing that (Mark) Webber was only sixth and Hamilton had the problem it is very important for the championship in terms of the points’ gap. But as I said on Thursday our chances to be champion or to have a possibility this year is not what the others will do. I think we need to find some consistency as this was a good weekend but Spa was a bad weekend, so we cannot afford to have these bad weekends. We need to have some consistency and more podiums if possible. If we do then we will see what our opponents do as well. But at the moment we don’t need to look what others are doing as sometimes we are not doing our 100 percent. That is what we have to concentrate on.
Question: Tell us about the start of the race.
Fernando Alonso: Well, it was very, very difficult, very stressful moment. Not so much the start as the start itself was good. I felt nothing wrong with it but Jenson had a much better start, so I tried to defend but it was not possible. I tried to fend but it was too late. Jenson took a good position for the first corner. I tried to brake late but Jenson was right on the braking point as well. I tried to negotiate the first corner. I touched the front nose of the car in Jenson’s rear left and I jumped a little bit. When I landed I touched Felipe on the right, so we had two touches in two metres of the first corner, so at that moment probably something is damaged in the car. Maybe I am not anymore competitive or the car will understeer in the next corner, so the first couple of laps were just a check of how the car was behaving. Everything was fine, so we keep pushing but the first 10 seconds of the race were quite stressful and quite negative as I thought it was a much bigger problem than it was at the end.
Question: After that was it a case of waiting until Jenson came into the pits.
Fernando Alonso: No, we attacked Jenson. Some laps I had confidence that before or later maybe out of Parabolica I was close enough to take the benefit of the extra speed. Our car was quicker on the straights today than Jenson, so I knew that out of Parabolica if I was close enough maybe I had the chance. I was pushing all the race to have this possibility but Jenson was driving superb and it was not possible. He was not doing a single mistake the whole lap, so Parabolica was always the same distance.
Question: Then when he did come in did you push hard for that one lap?
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, obviously we had two possibilities. One lap earlier than him or one lap longer depending on what he was doing. When we saw him come in we knew that we only had only one lap as after that the prime tyre was quicker. We had one lap. I pushed. The lap was 100 per cent and the pit stop felt very good for me. I stopped, changed the tyres, it was a green light. I didn’t even have first gear in. It was a surprise how quick it was. I think most of the race and most of the overtaking is thanks to the mechanics, to the team, because it was a perfect job.
Question: Then a little scare on lap 50 when you went off at the first chicane?
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, I had Pedro (de la Rosa) in front of me for one lap and a half and then in the first chicane I thought he was letting me by and I brake a little bit late to overtake him. Then he closed, so to avoid any risk or anything like that I said I go straight but then there were these big bumps, so I had to slow down as much as I could not to damage the car. It was a moment that maybe is better to avoid but he was there and we were lucky enough to keep the car in one piece.
Question: Fernando, you have built a winning car for Monza which is a special track. How much work do you have to do to rebuild the car for Singapore and the more conventional tracks at the end of the season?
Fernando Alonso: I think Monza requires very unique rear wings. The rest of the car should be more or less the same. I think we shouldn’t be too worried about the Singapore package but as Felipe said, knowing that this track and Singapore are opposites in terms of layout and the characteristics of the corners, we would expect Red Bull to be very competitive in Singapore.
Question: Fernando, for the first time in your career you are fighting for the championship in a different situation to that in 2005 and 2006 when you were leading. Do you feel a different pressure, is it different?
Fernando Alonso: Well, I think I was fighting in 2007 as well. I was twenty points behind the leader and we arrived on equal points at the last race, so it’s not the best thing. Obviously we all would like to be in first position and defending the gap because in the position that we are in now there is no room to make a mistake or to retire even in one race. As we saw today with Hamilton, he was leading and after this problem today, I don’t know if he’s leading or not but he’s still fighting for the championship with no risk. For us, it’s different. If we have a problem, maybe we say bye-bye to the championship, so it’s not ideal but we have to deal with this stress or this pressure and it’s now time to deliver. Five races to go, so let’s try to do our maximum, never give up and we will try, knowing that it’s going to be very difficult.
Question: Fernando, when you joined Ferrari, was this result here today and those scenes out there beyond your wildest dreams that you could have imagined, when you started out with the team?
Fernando Alonso: I never imagined that it was so good. As I said sometimes this year, the integration to the team has been fantastic. The welcome by all the team, all the members, all the Italian fans has been much better than I ever dreamed of. I’ve sometimes been on the podium at Monza with all these people supporting Ferrari in the past and to imagine myself on the top step of the podium with all those fans with their Ferrari flags has been a very good feeling for me and a good shock!
Question: Fernando, was that the fastest pit you have ever done, or have you done quicker in practice?
Fernando Alonso: I don’t know really, I will have to check. I think there was one race where if the number was 3.4s today, I don’t remember if we did 3.2s one time. I don’t know if that was in a race situation. Obviously there is more stress etc. Fighting for the race, knowing that our main opponent came into the pits one lap early and you have to deliver in these three seconds here in Italy with all the pressure that they have as well… As I said, I felt the pit stop was the quickest I have ever done. As I said just now, when I saw the green light, I just put the first gear in at that moment, so physically there was no time to do all the buttons and they changed four tyres, so it was something very good and very impressive, and a big thanks to the team.
Question: Fernando you already partially answered this question but how different is this victory to your 2007 win in Monza?
Fernando Alonso: Well, in 2007 they were not saying very nice things or words about us as we crossed the line because we were rivals. I think McLaren was also fighting for the championship against Ferrari, so winning here was not the best thing for them and winning today, you get involved in this atmosphere with the Italian national anthem as well with all the people. It feels great. The whole weekend… the entrance to the paddock is only one example but this welcome by everybody and this support for the team is great and I think Felipe and me have had a fantastic weekend thanks to these guys as well.
Question: Fernando, do you believe that Ferrari will be consistent until the end of the season, because it’s been a season of ups and downs? And how was the braking when you came out of the pits with Button approaching, because the tyres were a little bit cold?
Fernando Alonso: I think the up and down thing… obviously we try to do our best every weekend. In Spa we were not very competitive, so we were struggling a little bit but I think we were first in Hockenheim and second in Hungary, and in Spa, even if we were not competitive we cannot forget that on the first lap Barrichello hit us and we were running last by twenty seconds to the guy in front because we had to change tyres on lap two and lap three. So without that hit, with this incident, maybe Spa was a sixth or seventh or whatever position and those points would be very welcome now in the championship as it is. I expect Ferrari to be very consistent in these five races, so to answer your question: why not? Only Spa has been a little bit down.
With the pit stop exit, for sure it was not easy. The first time I looked in the mirror Jenson was very far away, so I said ‘good, we are clearly in front of him in the first corner’ but I forgot that he was coming at 320, so he was arriving very quickly and we arrived at the first corner nearly side-by-side and then I nearly spun or I had a moment when I went onto the throttle because obviously with the new tyres I had a lot of wheelspin as soon as I touched the throttle at the first chicane and it was the only risky place. The braking was not so much, and as I said, the surprise was the speed that these cars are coming on the straight.
Question: It’s a question for Fernando: when you were driving towards Jenson and seeing that he was very consistent and was not making mistakes, did you consider at any time that you finishing second could be a good position?
Fernando Alonso: Yes, yes. I think lap two, lap three, the engineer came to me saying that Hamilton was out and at that moment, Webber was ninth after the start, so I realised that this was a race to finish for the championship possibilities. We knew first is amazing, especially here in Monza. We had to fight until the end, because all these tifosi deserved our fight, but knowing second was also a strong result today with the contenders out of the race.
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