Question: Fernando, Ferrari chasing the Red Bull and really the best of the rest this weekend.
Fernando Alonso: I think we found a big gap between Red Bull and us this weekend already from yesterday’s practice. I think we maximised our potential today. We did our job which is as you said to be the best of the rest. Congratulate Red Bull. I think they dominate so far the weekend and they deserve this first row, so hopefully tomorrow we can make it a difficult race for them, as so far this weekend it has been too easy.
Question: How do you maximise your potential for tomorrow’s race? Is it all about your start?
Fernando Alonso: The start we know is important. We know Hungary. The track is very difficult to overtake. We know strategy will be important as well. The start, first corner, first lap will be 60 per cent or 70 per cent of the final result, so hopefully we can do a good start as we did in Hockenheim last week and try to overtake positions and try to fight a little bit.
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Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Beats Mark Webber to Pole Position at Hungaroring
Formula 1: Hungarian Grand Prix - Race Line Up
Formula 1: Mark Webber Fastest in Final Practice at Hungaroring
Formula 1: Hungarian Grand Prix - Final Practice Results
Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Fastest in Second Practice at Hungaroring
Formula 1: Hungarian Grand Prix - Second Practice Results
Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Fastest in First Practice at Hungaroring
Formula 1: Hungarian Grand Prix - First Practice Results
F1 Standings Ahead of Hungarian Grand Prix
Question: Fernando, you really had quite a lot of work to do from yesterday to today, as far as we could see from your comments from yesterday. Was there a lot of analysing, the blown diffuser, a lot of set-up work to be done?
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, I think yesterday, as usual, we tried to use free practice one and free practice two to get some data, to try new components on the car, some for this race, some for future races, and try to see if they work. Then on Saturday morning we normally put everything in place. We put the car in the best condition we can and we see where we are. I think the difference we had yesterday to Red Bull was too big to improve overnight. This morning we checked this as well and we saw that they were dominant this weekend and untouchable. Again, the race is tomorrow. As Sebastian said now, I think many times on Saturday there are some results that on Sunday are difficult to repeat, so we will see tomorrow if we can do a good race, finish on the podium and I think our job today was to maximise the car, to be third which is maybe the best position we could do and I’m still happy, with the lap, with the car and I really felt good grip and good performance in the car, obviously not at the level of Red Bull but enough to be the best of the rest.
Question: Somebody said last weekend that the dirty side here is probably the dirtiest of the season, so do you feel that you have a good chance of slotting into second tomorrow?
Fernando Alonso: We will see. I think it basically depends on how the start is. I think we know that the dirty side here is quite bad, maybe the worst of the calendar but at the same we’ve had some good starts this year starting on the dirty side, and some bad starts starting on the clean side. I think it will be down to the start and how things go when the red light goes off but no doubt that we will have a good chance tomorrow to overtake cars at the start.
Question: Fernando, 1.2 seconds. Is it as big as you could have expected or does it comes as a surprise?
Fernando Alonso: Surprise, no doubt. I think four or five days ago we were winning the race in Hockenheim and Ferrari was the quickest car there on Sunday. Six days later we are 1.2 seconds behind, so it’s a surprise, no doubt, but as I said, I’m still happy with the car performance, there was nothing wrong with it. We will maximise our potential and it’s 1.2 seconds to me but two seconds for fifth or sixth position, so I think there are people who are more worried than us.
Question: Fernando, what racing strategy will you use tomorrow? Will you be defensive to keep the McLarens away from you, or will you attack to try to overtake at least one of the Red Bulls or both?
Fernando Alonso: I think we will see. As we said now, the start will be an important part of the race, first corner, but there is nothing you can plan. It will depend on how the car starts tomorrow afternoon. Sometimes we did some very good starts, sometimes not so good, so fingers crossed tomorrow it is one of the good ones. But I will be happy to be on the podium. There is no doubt. I think that knowing how the weekend has gone so far, winning the race would be a dream, but we need to be realistic, we need to know that there are two cars much quicker than us, so at the moment we deserve third position in qualifying, and theoretically we deserve third position in the race, so we will see what we can do. At the moment, the McLaren drivers are leading the (Drivers’) championship and the McLaren team is leading the Constructors’, so we need to take points and reduce the gap to them. Once the Red Bulls are leading the championship, if they do so, we will see what we can do, but at the moment hopefully we need to keep taking points from McLaren.
Question: Yesterday you said that you were worried about qualifying pace, and not so much for the race pace. Are you still confident that should you be able to be second after the first turn, this could be the only chance to try to win the race?
Fernando Alonso: I think it’s something we need to check tomorrow as well. Sometimes on Saturday we’ve been not close enough to Red Bull to fight for pole positions and then on Sunday we are much closer on race pace. This was the case when we were three or four tenths away from pole position. Today we are 1.2 seconds, so even if tomorrow we have a better race pace, it may still not be enough to fight for victory but we will see. Anything can happen. There is a 70 lap race, a very demanding circuit for drivers, for gearboxes, engines, brakes. It is not an easy circuit. We’ve seen very interesting races here in Hungary, so we will fight until the chequered flag.
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