Greater Noida: Two times world champion Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, trailing the leader Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull by six points, feels that the world championship is well within his reach and to do that, he will have to roll out perfect performance in the last four remaining races.
“There are still four races to go and I have nearly the same points as him (Vettel). There is all possibility for me to push for the world championship. And even in the race to constructer’s title, we are not too far behind,” Alonso told the reporters.
Alonso is on 209 points trailing Vettel (215) by six points. He feels that his competition with the German driver will be a ‘battle of package’ and that will determine the winner.
“It will be a battle of package. Everyone will have their strong points and weak areas. At the moment Red Bull may have the fastest cars, especially on qualifying days, but we will try to use our strong point,” said the two time world champion.
With last four races left in the season, including the Indian Grand Prix this weekend at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC), the Constructer’s Title is also wide open with Ferrari hot on Red Bulls heel with a deficit of 77 points.
Red Bull is leading with 367 points while Ferrari is on 290 points.
“In the last few races, our car has been very strong and very quick. But there are ups and downs for everybody. We need to improve our situation, our level of competitiveness. The whole team wants to win the championship. So, everyone is fully focussed,” said the Spaniard.
Talking about BIC, he said, “The track is one of the most challenging, especially the first sector. It has very high speed corners. Tomorrow it may not be that good because it did not host many races after last year’s Grand Prix. But I think it will be at its best on Saturday (qualifying) and Sunday.”
Meanwhile, unlike last year at the Indian Grand Prix, when the driver’s championships was already decided, this year holds quite a lot of significance as the championship is still open and double defending Champion Sebastian Vettel is aiming for an encore here.
“I have good memories; it was a fantastic race last year. We got the pole and I won the race. It was special. Hopefully we can have a similar result. We always try to do the best,” he said.
Vettel who joined Red Bull in the year 2009 in on the verge of winning hat-trick of titles said that even though he is being chased closely by Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, he leaves all behind and when he is on the track he just concentrates on his race.
“I am not a strong believer of statistics. We had ups and downs and we did improve. This is exactly what the other people are also trying to do, trying to improve the car."
“I do not think much when I am on the grid, waiting to see the light go off. Yes it is in the head but important is to get off, start well and have a good race,” said the double defending champion.
When asked what the secret to his success is, he said, “When I won the first championship, it was a big relief. That was a great feeling. But it’s not an advantage if you have won the last race or the last championship. You have start again and I have proved that I am good enough to do that. Still we do mistakes and most importantly I do not do that twice.”
Talking about the season which saw seven different winners for first seven races, he said it has been one crazy year.
“I was one of the first seven winners. It took a while and it has been a crazy year this. It shows how small things can make a big difference. Pastor Maldonado won a race this year and now has been away from doing that.
“Nico Rosberg won a race and is struggling in the last couple of races. It’s difficult to explain for ourselves why the drivers who do well cannot do that again,” said the 25 year old German driver.
By Samikshan Dutta Choudhury
Indian Sports News Network
