Q. Fernando, all teams have made changes to their cars for this race. Where does Renault stand for this race?
Fernando Alonso: I think a little bit closer to the leaders because the gap we had in Q1 and Q2 maybe is a little bit less than what we saw in the first four races. So definitely we are closer to the leaders, but teams like Ferrari, like BMW they are also closer so maybe they are in front of us now so the positions remain more or less the same or even a little bit worse for us.
We qualified seventh in the last Q2 in Bahrain and in China as well, and today we were P10 in Q2, even if the gap was smaller than in the last two races. We are better. We are happy with our car, but the problems is that in half a second instead of having seven cars now there are 11 or 12 cars, so it's really difficult.
Q. Is it an encouraging enough step to get a bit closer to the leaders?
FA: I think we need to find better steps. I think if you bring half a tenth or one tenth every race, the positions will remain the same. If one team suddenly gains three or four tenths in one race that will obviously close the gap to the leaders but it will put you eight positions better than now.
With the times so close you can dramatically change your race or your qualifying. That is the kind of step we need to find from one race to another, and this is obviously difficult for everybody.
Q. Have you been impressed by Ferrari?
FA: They improved the car and they are much quicker now. But in Malaysia when it rained Kimi was running fifth. In Australia also Massa was not that bad and then he had a problem with the car. In China as well Massa was running well and his car stopped. So even if Ferrari had zero points I think the performance of the car was not as bad as the results. So to see them fourth or fifth is not a big surprise.
They obviously improved the car but they are still behind Brawn, Red Bull, maybe Toyota. Obviously Ferrari is the only team that can improve the car and find these tenths because Ferrari has great potential. They made the first step but they need to find more. Obviously they are able to do it, but this one was not enough.
Q. Do you think Renault can make the quick steps that you need to get back in the hunt?
FA: Maybe yes, but I think it's very difficult to guess what is going to happen in the next races. Everybody is still improving the car. We know Red Bull will maybe have a double diffuser in Monaco, maybe BMW will also have it soon. We will introduce new parts, but if it will be enough or not I think no one knows.
Q. Are you less optimistic than you were this time last year?
FA: No. Last year I was not optimistic at all because the gap to the front-runners was maybe 1.5 seconds. I knew this time last year that the championship was over and that it was a season to learn and to take it easy and prepare well for 2009. Now we are half a second or whatever behind the leaders, it's not huge, so we will keep pushing.
Q. In the past, the grandstands here were packed. Today was not the case. Do you think it's something we are likely to see in other countries as well?
FA: We'll see. I think the crisis will have an effect. It's not good that I say this, but I think it's also that we are not winning. I think if Renault was winning races or on the podium, the grandstand would be full. Because people know what the situation is at the moment they are not really that interested anymore.
In this championship there are no battles between Ferrari and McLaren, no battles between Hamilton, Raikkonen, Alonso, so it's a little bit difficult to explain that to people.
Q. So you think that if the US has a team, is it necessary that it wins for the people to be interested?
FA: I don't know. American people has a different culture than us. They have a lot of sports, the biggest facilities in the world, great sportsmen in every sport... Formula 1 in the USA was never a big thing so maybe if they came to F1 and they don't win maybe the interest is still quite high, because it's like a new sport for them.
Click
No comments:
Post a Comment