Fernando Alonso doubts he can repeat perfection of 2012 F1 campaign

IN qualifying they lost the title. It averaged 6th. Unless they get the car fast enough in qualy to be on the front row, they will have to fight hard again. We may not see the weather breaks FA got this year in Malaysia and Germany to aid him. They need a faster car, especially on Saturday. Qualifying 6th to begin with is not the way to win the title.

 

You don't understand the difference?

 

I see Mr Fresh had already explained.

 

I don't understand how anyone can thnk this.

An example of having the best car on the grid but not getting it right would be McLaren.

 

Agree'd. A reliable Mclaren probably takes the title or finishes as close as Ferrari did to Red Bull. A fast car does not average 6th on the grid at the end of Saturday.

 

+1

Ferrari's lack of qualifying pace killed them. They were throwing whatever they could on the car and it just wasn't working.

 

Of course I do. Arguably Red Bull could have chosen a different alternator manufacturer.

But you can't keep going on about one or two crashes during the season and those being the sole reason for not winning a championship. Even if you do, Japan was still his fault. Kimi was right on the edge of the track and Alonso pointlessly squeezed him resulting in him cutting his own tire. Kimi even went on the grass.

There where only 3 pts in it in the end, so that one mistake cost him the title.

Happy?

 

No - that kind of reliability does not make for the best car!!! When I said best, that includes a lot more than fastest lap, or qualifying. The car needs to make it to the finish.

3 DNF's for Ferrari, all of them collision related. They went backwards on pace for a bit, but aside from that, I feel they had the best car for many races of the season.

 

Alonso is the best all around driver on the grid, and even his competitors think so. That's respect, pure and simple. The margin of victory only confirms this.

 

100% agreed.

 

+1 Peter.

 

I feel that the car was performing below its potential, and part of that wass Massa/Alonso not getting setups right quick enough. I feel Alonso is over rated, and the Ferrari was under rated. Not by huge margins mind you. A car that finished every race is not a bad car, and to be able to race for the podium in most of those...not a bad car either.

 

Altho I agree with this statement, I think what we saw this season was Alonso racing for the podium in most races and a car preventing him from finishing higher than he did.

 

+1

And Tervuren there was no way at any time this season that Ferrari had the best car on the grid, no way!
Pete

 

Dude!......

Clifford certainly wasn't a "bad" car - He eventually managed 2nd in the all important ($ wise ) WCC after all.

*But*, Fred drove his wheels off! Even his peers recognize him as da man this past season! Sure, Seb won the title - In the best car - But Fred was *awesome* this past year IMO.

Cheers,
Ian

 

+1

I'm certainly no fan of Alonso but he drove probably his best season ever. No mean feat.

 

+1 on both accounts. The only thing that puts a small question mark over my head is Massa's performance in the last few races, often being faster than Alonso.

 

If our car is as goog as red bull next season, fernando will be the new champion in 2013, the only two zeros in 2012 was for both lotus crashs, without this two zeros, 2012 champion was our pilot. regards.

 

Massa is very good in interlagos, is his home. maybe the other races ferrari was prepare new solutions for the car for the new season, if is for this reason, maybe our car wil be fast next year. regards.

 

You have to be motivated (internally or externally) the entire season in F1 to be WDC not just a few races.
You dont have to chase the greats with a stick to get them to perform.
Its natural.

 

True, Trulli was faster than alonso but he ciuldn´t keep it up in every race...only on his good days...a bit like Arnoux who probably was faster than Prost but only when the mood was right.....this is way guys like Prost and Alonso have such good scores, they are very constant and always perform at a very good level, even if ocasionaly there are guys who can be faster than them.

 

The dreaded "Trulli train!"

 

Yes a car has to get to the finish but it has to be fast too. You are putting too much weight on the reliability part, which is pretty easy nowadays.

If I was able to enter my old Toyota Tarago (2.4 ltrs) I can guaranty it would have finished every race, but many, many laps down. Does that make it a good car? Of course not.

If a car does not finish due to mechanical issues in modern F1 then somebody should be sacked, it's no longer hard.
Pete

 

Alonso had the considerable weight of the WDC on his shoulders, Massa had nothing to worry about. He could just go for it and see what happened.

Alonso on the other hand could not afford one single mistake and this was costing him lap time as he had to ensure he finished and kept out of trouble.
Pete