Question: We have seen Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber easing away in the championship. There is a little bit of a gap now between the chasing three behind. What are your feelings about the world championship at this stage?
Fernando Alonso: I think I agree with what Jenson said. I think that before Spa, we were holding a very small difference, a small gap and then after one race the gap did increase but this can change very quickly, race by race. As we saw this year with the new points system, it can change really quickly and then normally with the championships we saw two, maximum three guys fighting in the past. This year, with five or six guys in the front, you can really easily be first or sixth or seventh, you can lose a win, many points, if you do good or no good. Our aim is to do six races at the top level, the best we can, and then we will see what we can do at the end.
Question: How do you think you and Ferrari and going to go here?
Fernando Alonso: I think we should be competitive here. Spa didn’t get us what we expected. The performance we had in Spa was not as good as we wanted obviously, so we’ve made some changes, we’ve made some analysis of what happened in Spa and I think we’ve understood some of the problems and we are arriving here with a better package suited to Monza.
Question: And finally, your reaction to the decision yesterday of the World Council hearing?
Fernando Alonso: Well, I think we were already very concentrated on Monza. We are set, we are aware of the FIA’s decision, so we just have to respect it and I think that is now in the past for us, and we need to concentrate on Monza already.
Question: Fernando, arriving at this point of the championship, do you feel this is your last opportunity for the championship, and do you need to take more risk?
Fernando Alonso: Well, obviously the less races to the end of the championship, the more problems you have if you have a bad weekend, so maybe not the last but one of our last chances will come here or Singapore maybe, to really recover some good points. There are still six races to go and I am still confident that if we are on the podium for all six and we win some of the races, you can very possibly be a contender in the last race, so we are still more or less calm about our chances but, as you said, knowing that Monza is important, Singapore as well, another DNF or another problem in a race will maybe be our last chance or our bye-bye to the championship, so hopefully we can do well here and start recovering some points.
And being more aggressive here? I think we’ve been aggressive more or less every race in the last part of the championship. Halfway through the season we’ve been attacking the races and trying to be on the podium with a more aggressive approach, and here will be the same.
Question: Fernando, you came to Ferrari to become a World Champion for them; would you consider it a failure not to be champion this year?
Fernando Alonso: Ah, no. For sure, every championship you start or every first race you arrive to a new season you want to become champion at the end and if you cannot arrive to that goal, for sure it’s a disappointment for yourself and for the team because you’ve been preparing the championship towards the victory at the end. But I think the word failure or disaster or those sort of things are a little bit too extreme. We are in a very competitive sport, we know our opponents are very strong as well, very competitive and the champion at the end is the one that deserves it most. If we are not champions, it’s because we didn’t do enough to do it, so let’s wait and see what happens, but this first season at Ferrari, so far, has been incredible, it has been the best of my life and I’m enjoying… I’m a super-happy man, so we will see what happens in the end.
Question: Fernando, how do you feel that the incident in Germany has helped play a significant part in the FIA going forward now and probably changing the rule and maybe even abolishing the team orders regulation?
Fernando Alonso: I think, as I said, that it’s something that is in the past for us and we need to concentrate on this race in Monza, so I think we’ve already talked too much. All the August break we talked about the Germany incident. As my colleagues said now, I’m happy to see that the FIA will try to go deep in the rules and try to clarify if there is anything that is sort of not completely clear what is said in the rules and like this we will all be clearer about everything. No special feeling, nothing to say.
Question: Fernando this is your first Italian Grand Prix as a Ferrari driver. How did you feel this morning arriving at the circuit?
Fernando Alonso: We came in a Fiat 500, very Ferrari red, so I felt a little bit of stress because people were running behind us, because the car is quite attractive, so it was a special feeling for that reason. Nothing changed other than that. It’s a normal Grand Prix for us. Obviously in the team or in the garage, when you are with the mechanics or engineers there is a very good atmosphere here. Some of them bring family to the grandstands or some friends. They really want to do well here, because of being in Italy etc, so for sure I think inside the team it’s a special Grand Prix, so hopefully we can do well to make everybody happy.
Question: Fernando, I just wanted to ask you about the decision yesterday. Was there any sense of relief from you at all that Ferrari had escaped further punishment because in a way it’s helped keep your title challenge alive, you’re still in it now?
Fernando Alonso: As I said, now I think we’ve talked too much but you keep asking the same questions but the answers will not change. We were concentrating on Monza or in Spa two weeks ago, completely focused on the performance of the car and tried to be on the podium, trying to win races etc. The decision was something that we were waiting for and we were ready to respect whatever it was. Yesterday was the hearing and we were not playing a big part or a big role in it, the drivers etc, so we were just concentrated on the performance in the car. We respected the decision, we keep everything as it was, points etc, so nothing changed for us.
Question: Fernando, you said here, a few years ago, F1 is not a sport and your then team boss said the championship had been fixed around a table when it appeared Ferrari had been a beneficiary. Many people in the sport think you had been a beneficiary yesterday. If you win the title by less than seven points this year, do you think that the title will be as good as 2005/2006 when you were maybe fighting against the odds?
Fernando Alonso: Yes.
Question: Why?
Fernando Alonso: Because when you win the title, you win the title.
Question: Do you think if you win the title this year you will have won it fairly, on the track, not in the Paris courtroom?
Fernando Alonso: Yes.
Question: Fernando, could you give me your description please of a worthy Formula One World Champion: the ingredients that make up a worthy champion?
Fernando Alonso: I think that whoever is first at the end is because they have more points than the others and one’s a champion and this is the way it was throughout the history of Formula One and other sports as well: in football, in the Premier League, in tennis etc. This is not too difficult.
Question: Is points the only ingredient?
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, I think if you are talking… because I’m sure you are talking about the decision of yesterday, you have to respect it and be calm. Respect everything as we do and don’t worry.
Question: Isn’t talent an ingredient of being a great champion?
Fernando Alonso: Of course.
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