Fernando Alonso made the perfect use of a blistering start and bold strategy to deliver an emphatic victory to his adoring fans at the Spanish Grand Prix, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa. It was a race that was dictated by tyre strategy, with much of the field played it safe by adopting a four-stop strategy, whilst Raikkonen and Lotus were again able to make one less pit stop and he put himself in contention for the race win in the middle stages of the race. It will give further fuel to critics of Pirelli who argue that the More…

Fernando Alonso won the Chinese Grand Prix for Ferrari, the third different race winning driver and car combination in three races this season, with Kimi Raikkonen finishing second, where he started and Lewis Hamilton holding off a hard charging Sebastian Vettel for third. It was Alonso’s 31st career victory, equalling Nigel Mansell for fourth in the all-time winners list and his second in China. Vettel retained the drivers’ championship lead, three points ahead of Raikkonen, Alonso and Hamilton, but it tightened up; just 12 points separate the top four drivers, all World Champions. Ferrari closed to within five points of More…

Double world champion Fernando Alonso says he does not regret the decision not to pit for a new front wing which ultimately caused his retirement in the Malaysian Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver, 31, broke his front wing when he made contact with Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel at turn two at Sepang. With the track drying out after a rain shower, the team took the decision not to pit after the first lap in the hope they could keep going and change the wing when they changed tyres. However, the wing gave way and became trapped underneath the car on More…

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso blamed “extremely bad luck” for his second lap retirement in the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang. The double world champion, who was competing in his 200th race, moved up a place to second at the start but broke his front wing when he tapped leader Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull at turn two. With conditions still a few laps away from being suitable for dry weather tyres, the team decided to keep Alonso, 31, out on track to avoid having to make two stops in four laps. It was a mistake; the loads on the wing were too More…

Ferrari believe they have a car capable of challenging for the world championship after taking the lead in the constructors’ standings following the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. A radio message to Fernando Alonso from his engineer said: “Ci Siamo” (“We are there”) after the Spaniard finished second, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa. That would suggest the Italian team feel they have a good chance of the title this year starting from this baseline which is much stronger than that of last year at this point in the season. While Kimi Raikkonen More…

Double world champion Fernando Alonso says his Ferrari team will require perfection if they are to win the World Championship. The Italian team last won the constructors’ title in 2008, and the drivers’ – with Kimi Raikkonen – in 2007. Last season, Alonso lead the championship for much of the season, despite having a car which lacked the pace of its immediate rivals, however, he ultimately lost out to Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel by three points at the finale in Brazil. The team look to be in better shape ahead of the new season but Alonso, 31, says they need More…

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso has told his rivals that he is better prepared ahead of the new season than last year – and he believes this year will be stronger. The double world champion led the championship for much of 2012, despite having an inferior car to the Red Bull and McLaren, but missed out to Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel by three points. But after training hard during the winter and showing good pace in winter testing, setting the second fastest time on the final day in Barcelona, Alonso has high hopes for this season. “Last year was the best year More…

The final player to take the stage at Ferrari’s pre-season warm up event in Madonna di Campiglio was Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard, who narrowly missed out on his third world title at the final round in Brazil last year, is refreshed and ready to challenge again with the new Ferrari, which will be launched in just over two weeks time. Ferrari got their sums wrong on the 2012 car and started the season around 1.5 seconds off the pace. This year Alonso sees no reason why the new car, developed in the Toyota wind tunnel in Cologne by a strengthened More…

We’ve had a huge response to the top five drivers of the year vote on JA on F1 over recent days, with just under 800 replies left on the site as of Monday night. Although the composition of the respective reader top fives have been naturally reasonably varied given there are 24 drivers to select from, the #1 ranked position has almost exclusively been contested between the three men who claimed 12 of the 20 wins between them in 2012 – world champion Sebastian Vettel, runner-up Fernando Alonso and four-time 2012 race winner Lewis Hamilton. Indeed, a massive 96% of More…

Fernando Alonso’s US Grand Prix weekend may have been spent largely focusing on the serious business of his title bid but the Ferrari driver did have a chance for some light relief during an event in the heart of Austin. As part of a promotional appearance for the team’s fuel partner Shell, the double world champion visited one of the firm’s petrol stations in the state to surprise an unsuspecting local customer who had pulled into the garage to fill up his car. After getting over the shock of having his car filled up by Alonso, Pedro Solis was presented More…

And so it comes to this: Two races in eight days to decide the outcome of the 2012 world championship. It’s been a long road to this point, but which of the two drivers has done a better job? Here we present an analysis of what has led us to this point. The margin between them is small at 10 points. But it will be all over this weekend if Vettel wins with Alonso 5th or lower. It can also be settled if Vettel is 2nd with Alonso 9th or lower or if Vettel is 3rd and Alonso is out More…

Here is something new: our first translation of a piece of JA on F1 content into Spanish. With a very positive response from the piece on Alonso and Vettel’s bid to become a three times world champion, we’ve had it translated so our Spanish speaking friends can enjoy it too. Disfrutar! Ya sabemos que al final de esta temporada la Fórmula 1 tendrá un nuevo tricampeón, ya que Sebastián Vettel o Fernando Alonso ganará este campeonato y, con él, adquirirá la condición mítica de pilotos como Ayrton Senna y Sir Jackie Stewart de ser un triple campeón del mundo. Convertirse More…

At the end of this season we know that Formula 1 will have a new three-times world champion; either Sebastian Vettel or Fernando Alonso will win this championship and with it will acquire the mythical status of drivers like Ayrton Senna and Sir Jackie Stewart of being a triple world champion. Becoming a three-times champion means being considered one of the “greats” of this sport. Fans at present are debating who is more worthy of winning the title; Alonso has had an extraordinary year dragging results out of a less competitive car, but Vettel kept notching up the points and More…

Ferrari’s mysterious blogger, The Horse Whisperer has made one of his occasional interventions on a day when the BBC F1 website ran a story with a strong line that Sebastian Vettel is headed to Ferrari in 2014. And, as always, the Whisperer’s view is interesting for what is said and for what is not said. It started with the BBC F1 site, where this morning’s headline was “Ferrari plan for arrival of Vettel” Underneath the thrust of the argument was, “Ferrari sources say they already have a deal in place with double world champion Vettel, with an option for the More…

Fernando Alonso has today issued a pick-me-up to Ferrari by backing the team stay in the hunt for the world championship “right down to the wire” in Brazil, insisting that the hard work that has got him into the championship lead can also keep him there. Having already had to swim against the tide for the majority of the season, Alonso is in danger of losing the lead of the drivers’ standings for the first time since Canada back in June by the end of this Sunday’s race in Korea after Sebastian Vettel cut his advantage to just four points with his second More…

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso saw his championship lead cut from 29 points to just four points on Sunday and for the second time in three seasons is confronted with the prospect of losing a title he had in his grasp. And the signs are that, with Red Bull on the up, with technical development hitting its peak and more to come in Korea, Ferrari has to find a way to win at least another race this season or the title will be gone. It is going to be very hard as the Red Bull is now approaching the level of superiority More…

Last Friday, somewhat lost among all the furore over the announcement of the Hamilton-Mercedes transfer, there was an important note made by Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo in a Q&A session at the Paris Motor Show. It was the session where he confirmed that Ferrari would need to shut down its wind tunnel in either December or January for calibration checks, which has had reasonably wide coverage. In the same session, Montezemolo talked about Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa and there were a couple of important lines to note, for better understanding the full picture when the time comes for More…

Here is something a bit different – Ferrari F1 driver and world championship leader Fernando Alonso drove a flying lap of the Singapore Grand Prix circuit today on the Shell Performance Simulator, which was set up in a hotel downtown. The Spaniard, who has won the Singapore Grand Prix twice, drove a hot lap in 1m 48 seconds, which is only three seconds slower than he managed in qualifying here last year, whilst at the same time describing it in English, complete with corners speeds and some insights and details. It’s a pretty impressive performance; particularly because he did not More…

This week we have been reviewing the performances of the first half of the season by the drivers, following a rating by influential Italian sports paper Gazzetta dello Sport. To read their ratings click Here We’ve had an interesting debate on the ratings, with over 300 comments left, many with fans posting their own version of the “pagelle”, or marks out of ten. Gazzetta gave Alonso a perfect 10, which leaves no room for improvement. Though he is having his best season in F1 to date, leading the championship with three wins without having the fastest car and has convinced More…

The influential Italian paper Gazzetta dello Sport has done a mid-season rating of each of the F1 drivers, with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso coming out on top, just ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen. And in a stark assessment of Ferrari’s other driver, Felipe Massa is at the bottom of the table. The Italian media is very fond of what they call “pagelle”, which are marks out of 10 after every event. It’s a well established part of Italian sports media coverage and has been copied here and there in the UK media and elsewhere. But in Italy it carries More…

Sir Jackie Stewart has warned Sebastian Vettel against swapping the stronghold of support he has built up at Red Bull for a move to Ferrari to go up against Fernando Alonso. Strong reports over recent months from respected outlets in the Italian media have suggested that reigning two-time world champion Vettel has some sort of agreement in place with Ferrari over potentially joining the Maranello marque as Alonso’s team-mate in 2014, although Red Bull chief Christian Horner, whose team announced last year that Vettel had signed a contract extension up to the end of the season after next, has insisted More…

Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa have taken time out from their preparations for the Hungarian Grand Prix to experience first-hand the devastation the two deadly earthquakes in northern Italy earlier this year had on the lives of local people. In May two large earthquakes inside the space of 10 days hit the Emilia Romagna region of Italy, of which Ferrari’s Maranello base is situated, killing 23 people, leaving thousands homeless and destroying both historic buildings and businesses to the estimated cost of £3.83bn in damage. Two months on from the disasters, 13,000 people continue to live in tented More…

[Updated] Fernando Alonso won the German Grand Prix from pole position, his third win of the season and another stunning drive under intense pressure by the Spaniard, who increased his lead in the drivers’ championship to 34 points. It was the 30th win of Alonso’s F1 career, one less than Nigel Mansell and his second consecutive win at Hockenheim, following on from his controversial win in 2010. Sebastian Vettel finished second on the road, his 40th podium in F1, with Jenson Button third, but afterwards Vettel was given a 20 second penalty by the stewards for passing Button by going More…

Fernando Alonso will start on pole for tomorrow’s German Grand Prix at Hockenheim after another rain affected qualifying session; another day for making the right decisions and being on the track at the right moment. It was Alonso’s 22nd career pole and his second in a row after Silverstone, as he looks to consolidate his position at the top of the drivers’ world championship. Sebastian Vettel was second and Mark Webber third. The final stages of qualifying were all about timing and tyre temperature and Alonso got it spot on, setting two fast laps as others struggled to get on More…

Lewis Hamilton will start his 100th Grand Prix on Sunday, but as he revealed in media briefings on the eve of practice, he has mixed feelings about his lack of success in the last few years. Nevertheless, his former team mate Fernando Alonso, who has described himself as being in the form of his life, gave the Englishman a thumbs up, saying that he is the driver he considers his greatest rival. “Why do I talk about Hamilton when McLaren has been in crisis for a few races?” said the Spaniard, “Because he always manages to get something extra from More…

Fernando Alonso became the first two time race winner in 2012 with a stunning victory in the European Grand Prix. It was a very valuable win as both his main title contenders did not score points; Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel both fell by the wayside, giving Alonso the chance to open up a relatively big points lead. He has 111 points with Webber on 91, Hamilton on 88 and Vettel on 85. After a dramatic final dash to the line, the two comeback kings got great results; Kimi Raikkonen finished second ahead of Michael Schumacher. It was Schumacher’s 155th More…

Ferrari’s Chief Designer Nikolas Tombazis says the team has found “a big improvement in car performance” following intensive work on the F2012 and it goes into the European Grand Prix this weekend with confidence. Valencia’s street track plays host to F1 for the fifth time this weekend. It is a track similar in some characteristics to the two previous races in Monaco and Montreal; low speed traction being pivotal to performance there. This was a weakness of the Ferrari at the start of the season, with the first round at Melbourne being a race in which neither car managed to More…

Fernando Alonso has issued a robust defence of the Ferrari strategists after he lost the win in Canada yesterday and ended up fifth by gambling on a one-stop strategy. The Spaniard led the race on lap 50, when Lewis Hamilton came in for his second stop of the afternoon. As Alonso came around at the end of lap 51, Hamilton’s new soft tyres were still coming up to temperature and Alonso had a 14.8 second lead over him. It was enough, arguably, with Ferrari’s track record this year of very fast pit stops, to chance their arm on a stop More…

Fernando Alonso sits on top of the drivers’ standings this morning after his third place finish in the Monaco Grand Prix. But it is more than surprising that Alonso is in this position, given how poor the Ferrari car was in pre-season testing and the early season races. So how has it happened? Consistency has certainly been the key for Alonso who, along with Hamilton is the only driver to have scored points in every race so far. But there’s more to it than that. The tyres play their part in this story, inevitably, the misfortunes of others have their More…

A driver’s crash helmet design is something uniquely personal to him with some iconic designs like Graham and Damon Hill’s London Rowing Club colours, Senna’s striped helmet in Brazilian colours and Jackie Stewarts’ racing tartan. But increasingly F1 drivers’ helmets are being used for messaging and fundraising and here in Monaco we have a rash of them with Fernando Alonso, Sergio Perez and Kimi Raikkonen all having something to say. Alonso has a unique design featuring a classic F1 Ferrari, rolling dice and other Monaco themed details. The helmet is a one-off and will be auctioned after the race weekend More…

It’s been interesting to see how Fernando Alonso has started opening up much more to the public recently, clearly part of a move to address his image in the public’s eyes and to use the social media tools available today to build a better relationship – and a direct one – with fans. This weekend has has taken part in a widescale question and answer session with fans via his Facebook and Twitter accounts. For example Alonso only recently joined Twitter, one of the last of the leading drivers to do so. He now has almost half a million followers. More…

Fernando Alonso is expecting the battle for the championship to distil into a much smaller group of protagonists than currently appears the case – and says that when that time comes Ferrari must ensure it is right in the fight. The pattern of the season’s first three races has mirrored that of 2010 when there were also three different winners from three different teams and a championship leader who had yet to win a race. Six different drivers have also stood on the podium so far in 2012, which is just one less than the total for the whole of last season. But Alonso, More…

Fernando Alonso produced a scintillating performance today, with the Ferrari strategists and pits crew making all the right moves, to win a rain hit Malaysian Grand Prix. The track has always been good to the Spaniard; he took his first pole position and podium here and has won the race twice before. But even he had to admit that he was lucky not to lose the victory in the closing stages to 22 year old Sergio Perez, who was challenging for the lead with seven laps to go but made a mistake, losing four seconds and giving Alonso breathing space More…

As the paddock went about its usual work on the opening day of a grand prix weekend at Sepang on Thursday, there was also time for reflection as several drivers made poignant trips to the circuit’s turn 11 to pay tribute to Italian rider Marco Simoncelli, who was killed at the corner during the MotoGP race there last October. The Italian was considered one of the most exciting and charismatic riders on two wheels but his life was tragically cut short at the age of 24 when during the penultimate round of the MotoGP season in Malaysia he died following a horrific accident in More…

Fernando Alonso has predicted the first qualifying session of the 2012 season will produce a “very mixed up grid” owing to what looks set to be a closely-matched field in Melbourne. The opening day at Albert Park proved to be a frustrating one for all concerned as inconsistent weather reduced the time available for set-up and tyre evaluation work, meaning predictions for the remainder of the weekend from both drivers and team management were even thinner on the ground than normal around the paddock on Friday evening. Ferrari’s Alonso concurred to an extent, although did offer up the suggestion that the More…

The F1 paddock was in full swing today as the new season got underway in Melbourne. The atmosphere was positive, with everyone looking forward to what should be a closely fought championship. But as always there are undertones of problems in the offing. And the weather threw up some surprises with rain storms in the afternoon and evening. More are forecast. Whatever happens from here this is an historic season already for two reasons; it’s the first time there have been six world champions in the field and it’s the longest ever F1 season with 20 races. Although there are More…

Ferrari’s difficulties in getting to grips with the F2012 was one of the threads that ran right through pre-season and Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa concede the team goes into this weekend’s Australian season-opener still in a position where they need more time to fully understand the car – but remain confident it will get there eventually. In wake of a disappointing 2011, Ferrari had hoped to be winning from the off this season but in normal conditions that appears a rather forlorn hope at Albert Park given the problematic nature of the team’s winter. The inconsistent handling of the More…

Fernando Alonso believes it is important to Ferrari’s hopes of challenging for the world title that none of their rivals makes a dominant start to the season akin to Sebastian Vettel last year, should the Maranello team not be in a position to win from the first round in Australia. Team principal Stefano Domenicali confidently declared that “I am sure our car will be winning right from the beginning” at the launch of the F2012 but due to the innovative nature of the design compared to recent Ferraris the team’s pre-season programme has to date generally had to centre on More…

Fernando Alonso says he has already seen positive signs from the new F2012 that it is able to generate heat into its tyres more quickly than was the case with its predecessor – a key aim for the team this year. Ferrari has struggled with tyre warm-up – particularly on the hardest compounds, where general performance issues have also been a perennial problem – over recent years and over the winter hired Bridgestone’s former F1 chief Hirohide Hamashima to focus on improving the interaction between car and Pirelli tyres. Alonso certainly thinks progress has been made judging by what he More…

Much had been made of Ferrari’s relatively low-key start to pre-season testing with the new F2012 but Fernando Alonso ensured everyone was talking about the new challenger in a more positive light today as he ended the final day at Jerez fastest of all. Red Bull, meanwhile, ran into their first reliability setback of the year after an electrical problem struck early on the RB8 to leave world champion Sebastian Vettel a spectator for much of the day, although he still finished third in the order. While issues with the F2012 meant Alonso himself completed only 39 laps, his early forays gave a first glimpse More…

The forthcoming season is unquestionably an important one for Ferrari, and with just a few days to go until the launch of their 2012 car, the team’s race drivers have been completing their winter training programme in Lanzarote. The specialist pre-season training camp, in sunnier climes to the traditional northern European winter, has long been a staple of many teams’ preparations ahead of a new season, giving them the chance to put their drivers through some rigorous exercises as well as providing an opportunity for team building. Ferrari have chosen the Canary island for their training camp in recent days, More…

Fernando Alonso has been in the news a couple of times this week, first for his bullish statements about Ferrari’s competitiveness in 2012 and then again yesterday with the sad confirmation that his marriage has ended. The Spaniard, now 30 years old, met his wife Raquel de Rosario in late 2005 and married a year later, just after he clinched his second world title. Apparently the pair have been separated for some months, they were last seen together at a Grand Prix in Hungary in late July, where Alonso celebrated his 30th birthday. The private life of F1 drivers has More…

With this weekend being the 20th anniversary of Michael Schumacher’s debut in F1, there have been tributes aplenty from fellow drivers but none more effusive than from his great rival of the mid 2000s, Fernando Alonso. “I have great respect for him, he’s one of the greatest or the greatest in our sport,” said Alonso. “The numbers are there and impossible to repeat for us. It’s been a great pleasure to drive with him all these years. I will always remember all the battles with him. It was a priviledge to drive against Michael Schumacher. “He decided to stop and More…

Fernando Alonso appeared in bullish mood on the first day of the German Grand Prix weekend, saying that he is now “very, very confident in the car” and predicting that it is now capable of taking him and the team on a winning streak, which may or may not give them a chance in the championship. “We have, I think, 32 points more than last year from these same nine races, so we are definitely improving our results, always trying to do our best,” said Alonso. “But we have to accept that Red Bull was very, very dominant in the More…

Fernando Alonso gave Scuderia Ferrari its first win of the 2011 season at the British Grand Prix. The victory marks 60 years since the Scuderia’s first ever Grand Prix win, at the hands of José Froilan Gonzalez on the same track in 1951. Before the race, Fernando Alonso commemorated the anniversary with an exhibition lap of the Silverstone circuit in the 375 F1 driven by Gonzalez at the 1951 British Grand Prix. The car now belongs to Bernie Ecclestone. It was driven around Silverstone 10 years ago by Michael Schumacher when he was a Ferrari driver. “It is a very More…

On the eve of the European Grand Prix at Valencia, Fernando Alonso said all is not lost in his and Ferrari’s quest to win the world championship this year, but admitted that the team was having “a very bad year.” He also said that his own performance is as strong as at any time in his career and compared his performances to his team mate Felipe Massa, “These seven races.. I think I drove the best seven races of my career, with the best qualifying laps, compared to my teammate, compared to last year,” he said. After a slow start More…

The Spanish Grand Prix was a strange one for Ferrari, with Fernando Alonso rocketing into the lead at the start and then sliding backwards as the race went on, later to be lapped by the two leaders. He now lies 67 points behind Sebastian Vettel in the drivers’ championship. There were a number of problems on Sunday for the Scuderia, but the main one was the car’s inability to generate heat and grip in the new hard Pirelli tyre. Alonso showed his determination to get a result for his home fans and to celebrate his new five year contract with More…

The news today that Fernando Alonso has signed a new five year contract keeping him with Ferrari until the end of 2016 has been met with an interesting reaction in the Barcelona paddock. Alonso himself appeared in the press conference and said that the whole process of contract renewal had taken only two weeks from start to finish. His reason for committing the rest of his career to the Scuderia was very clear, “I think the intention is to keep enjoying racing, ” he said. “For sure, I think I’m in the best team possible to fight for World Championships. More…

Fernando Alonso today committed his future to the Ferrari team, with a five year deal which will take him though to the age of 35. Alonso spoke of “ no doubt ending my F1 career” at Ferrari. Alonso, who narrowly missed out on last year’s world championship in his first year with the team, was praised by Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo as “a driver who has always demonstrated a winning mentality even in the most difficult circumstances,” a reference to the disastrous final round of 2010 in Abu Dhabi, where the strategy let him down, but also to his More…

Fernando Alonso always looks determined, that’s part of his make up. Now with his Zorro moustache and beard and the intense look in his eye, he looks like he should have a cutlass in his hand, rather than a steering wheel. But you can see he is focussed on winning this year’s world championship with Ferrari and expunging the awful memories of last November. To say that last year’s campaign ended badly would be an understatement; the bad pit call in Abu Dhabi turned an eight point championship lead into a heavy defeat, probably the heaviest he has suffered in More…

Ferrari, 5 wins, 2 poles, 3rd in Constructors’ Championship There are so many ways to look at the story of Ferrari’s 2010 season, but let’s start with the helicopter view, the overview in other words. Ferrari hires Alonso (finally) gives him a winning car and despite a few mistakes he establishes himself as clear number one, takes the chances, wins races and then loses the title at the last round due to a bad mistake on strategy by his team. The inescapable conclusion from this is that Alonso owed Ferrari one after his early season mistakes, but he made good. More…

I see that Vitaly Petrov has been speaking in German newspaper Bild about the abuse he’s taken on his Facebook page from irate Alonso and Ferrari fans. The Russian managed to keep Alonso behind him for most of the race in Abu Dhabi after Ferrari made a bad strategy call which brought their contender out behind the Renault driver. In doing so he played a direct hand in the outcome of the world championship and has been attacked from partisan quarters for doing so. The same thing happened two years ago with Timo Glock, who was passed by Lewis Hamilton More…

The championship is over, the title is decided in Sebastian Vettel’s favour but the nagging question everyone is wrestling with tonight is, how did Ferrari get its tactics so wrong? We have seen often this season how strategy can win races, but today we saw it lose a championship. Of course no championship is won or lost on one race, but when a driver has an eight point lead and needs only a top four finish, it can cost a championship if you get it wrong. Fernando Alonso started the race in third position, needed only to finish fourth and More…

The cramped and chaotic paddock at Interlagos always creates a feverish atmosphere and this weekend is no different. Teams are cheek by jowl with each other, journalists have to climb over tables and squeeze into corners to hear what’s being said at briefings and today we have seen a very calm Fernando Alonso and a Mark Webber who has chosen to cast himself as an underdog again. Alonso spoke about his team mate Felipe Massa and how he’d like him to win the last two races. This is his way of saying that he’d like Massa to be really fast More…

Fernando Alonso won the Korean Grand Prix today in very difficult conditions, his first wet weather win, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa. It was a real game changer of a day as far as the championship is concerned, with Red Bull’s two title contenders failing to score; Mark Webber crashing out and Sebastian Vettel’s engine failing near the end. After a long fightback from being 47 points behind Webber after Silverstone, Alonso now has control of the points table. Alonso leads by 11 points from Webber, with Hamilton up to third place, 21 behind the Spaniard. So heavy More…

There is a lot of attention on Felipe Massa at the moment, despite the fact that he is not a contender for the World Championship. He has been the subject of speculation about whether he will retain his drive next year, while recently he has received encouraging words from Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo, which is a mixed blessing, like a chairman’s “vote of confidence” in a football manager. The Ferrari website has identified his “key role” in the next three races and he himself has said that “the best thing I can do to help Ferrari’s and Fernando’s aspirations.” More…

This extraordinary championship has – hopefully – four more chapters in store for us. The title is still Mark Webber’s to lose; he has the fastest car and a ten point advantage. He has also had a couple of slices of “champions’ luck” this year and he has shown a willingness to gamble, in which I’m very interested. Meanwhile Fernando Alonso is the man with the momentum. He and Ferrari are peaking at just the right moment. In the last five races Alonso has scored 93 points, Webber 74, Vettel 60, Hamilton 55 and Button 44. Amazingly if you look More…

Fernando Alonso won the Singapore Grand Prix by a margin of just 0.2 seconds after a race long battle with Sebastian Vettel on a day when the gloves well and truly came off between championship rivals Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton. The pair, who were one and two in the championship going into the race, were fighting for third place when they collided following a restart from a safety car period. It was Alonso’s 25th career victory, putting him level with the great Jim Clark and only two behind Jackie Stewart. More significantly it was his third win in five More…

Fernando Alonso took pole position under the lights for tomorrow’s Singapore night race in a thrilling battle with Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. The pair traded fastest sector times in the final runs, but Vettel brushed the wall, handing Alonso pole by a tenth of a second. It was his 20th career pole and the second in a row this season. Lewis Hamilton was third for 4/10ths ahead of McLaren ahead of team mate Jenson Button and Red Bull’s Mark Webber. The session had started with a scare for Ferrari – Felipe Massa stopped out on the track during Q1, before More…

Jenson Button maintained a narrow lead over Fernando Alonso for the first 36 laps of the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, but lost the race when he pitted first. It was a game changing decision by McLaren. After the race Button said it was the wrong decision, while McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh said it was the right one. So what is the truth? Did the call to pit Button before Alonso cost him what would have been a historic and memorable victory? Button got the lead at the start, but it was clear from the performance of the Ferrari that More…

Fernando Alonso took an emotional victory in today’s Italian Grand Prix, on his Monza debut with Ferrari. It was his 24th career victory, which puts him equal with the great Juan Manuel Fangio and perhaps more importantly, puts him right back in the championship hunt with five races to go. He is now just 21 points behind Mark Webber, who regained the lead today. “It’s a very special win, ” said Alonso. I’ve been on the Monza podium before with all those people supporting Ferrari but to imagine myself on the top of the podium with all the Ferrari flags, More…

As Ferrari arrives in Monza for its home Grand Prix, there is an interview with Fernando Alonso in the Gazzetta dello Sport, which makes for interesting reading. It’s a wide ranging discussion with Ferrari’s lead driver and in it he admits that he’s made mistakes this season, but that driving for Ferrari you are more under scrutiny. He says that he isn’t giving up on the championship, explains the key to being fast at Monza and touches on other interesting topics. Asked whether he agrees that he’s “made many mistakes” this year he says, “Yes. In the past I made More…

Today is a big day for Ferrari as they will appear before the World Motor Sort Council to answer charges relating to violation of the rules regarding team orders in F1. This relates to an incident at the German Grand Prix in July, where Felipe Massa allowed Fernando Alonso through to win the race after receiving the message from his race engineer, “Fernando is faster than you”. In Germany the race stewards examined the matter and were satisfied that a team order had been used, which violates Article 39.1 of the Sporting Regulations. The team was fined $100,000 and referred More…

Team orders returned to the top of the agenda in Formula 1 today as Fernando Alonso took the win in the German Grand Prix thanks to his team mate Felipe Massa letting him through in the closing stages, despite leading the race from the start. It is a tough moment for Massa and a hard call for the team to have to make. Although the message was coded it was unmistakeably a team order, which are banned in F1. The team will also know that Massa’s motivation will have been torpedoed by this moment. It was Alonso’s second win of More…

Sebastian Vettel took pole position for tomorrow’s German Grand Prix, by just 2/1000ths of a second from Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in a fantastic qualifying battle. It was Vettel’s sixth pole of the season and the 11th in his 54 Grands Prix, a ratio of 20%. But the exciting thing was that Alonso and Ferrari had been the pace setter throughout qualifying, building on the improvement they showed in Silverstone. But on the final run, Vettel found two tenths of a second to edge out the Spaniard. It is a huge weekend for Vettel, who needs to get a win to More…

One of the features of the European Grand Prix was Fernando Alonso’s anger at the actions of Lewis Hamilton when he safety car was deployed and at the length of time it took for the stewards to deal with it. Alonso has tonight accused the stewards of “manipulating” the race, while Ferrari said it was a “scandal”. On lap 9, the safety car was deployed to neutralise the field following Mark Webber’s heavy accident. Hamilton passed the safety car, just, after the second safety car line, in contravention of the rules. The timing of the safety car going out was More…

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has attacked the new teams in the aftermath of Fernando Alonso losing the Canadian Grand Prix. “In modern F1 races cars with GP2 levels of performance shouldn’t participate,” he said in Gazzetta dello Sport. Montezemolo may have been referring to Jarno Trulli’s Lotus and perhaps the Hispania of Karun Chandhok, which was being lapped when Alonso lost a place to Button. “Our car had the pace to win, I hope in the future there are no more errors in lapping cars which are to our disadvantage, ” he added. “We already gave.” Ferrari have always More…

The controversy over the Red Bull collision on Sunday has taken attention away from what was a very painful weekend for Ferrari, as it celebrated its 800th Grand Prix. Not only has the team fallen further behind Red Bull and McLaren, it has also been passed on pace by Mercedes and Renault. In the last two races, Robert Kubica has qualified ahead of both Ferraris. Ferrari has played the history card very strongly in the last two seasons; it was one of its main strategies when standing up to Max Mosley, FIA president at the time and refusing to accept More…

This weekend at the Turkish Grand Prix a lot of attention is likely to fall on Felipe Massa. A three times winner of the Istanbul race, this is a weekend when he needs to show that he still has it in him to take Ferrari to the winner’s circle and to run his team mate Fernando Alonso close. If Red Bull still has a big margin over the rest, as is expected, then Massa’s minimum task is to beat Alonso. He should have great confidence he can achieve this on a track which he “owns” and where he even had More…

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has given a series of interviews lately, as Ferrari celebrates 800 Grand Prix starts and the most recent one is in today’s Gazzetta dello Sport. In the interview he deals with Alonso’s recent mistakes, hints at some possible changes in the team and says that Ferrari wants to go back to using its Fiorano test track. He also reveals that Ferrari has saved 30% this year compared to its budget of two years ago before the teams got serious on cost cutting. On the subject of Alonso he says that he’s delighted with him both More…

The fallout from Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix continues. This morning the FIA has accepted that the way the Safety Car was handled on the last lap and the information given to teams was not clear and has said that new rules will be drafted to make sure there is no repeat. According to a statement the incident, “Showed a lack of clarity in the application of the rule prohibiting overtaking behind the Safety Car. “Adjustments to the regulations are necessary to clarify the procedure that cars must meet when the last lap is controlled by the Safety Car whilst also More…

Welcome to our look-back at the key decisions which made the Monaco Grand Prix. Monaco is normally a frustrating race for team strategists. Qualifying is so important, it sets the tone for the race and only the start and the sole pit stop give any real opportunity to gain track positions. That said, a safety car at the right moment can make a big difference and this is what happened for Fernando Alonso. For the rest, the start was decisive in the battle between Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel, while the timing of the pit stop led to some changes More…

There has been an interesting reaction in Italy to Fernando Alonso’s accident, which put him out of contention for today’s Monaco Grand Prix. Alonso cut a dark, brooding figure yesterday during qualifying, having sidelined himself with an accident during free practice. His chassis was destroyed as the suspension pierced the tub. Spare cars are banned and the rules state that he has to start today’s race from the pit lane in a car made up from a spare monocoque. Alonso lost control of his car at Massanet corner, as he braked from 170mph down to around 60mph for the left More…

Mark Webber stunned F1 again today with his second pole position in eight days as he dominated qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix. It is the sixth pole in six races for Red Bull this season. That is championship winning form and after early season reliability issues, they need to make sure they again convert it to a win tomorrow. All predictions, including his own, were that it would be very close. In the end it wasn’t close at all. Webber was 3/10ths of a second ahead of Robert Kubica’s Renault, with Sebastian Vettel in third, 4/10ths behind Webber. But More…

Fernando Alonso topped the timesheets today in practice for Sunday’s Monaco Prix. The two times Monaco winner was the only driver to dip below the 1m 15s mark, setting a best time of 1m 14.904s – just a tenth of a second shy of the fastest lap in low fuel qualifying last year. Alonso was having to contend with the back end stepping out quite a bit, but he always looked fast and believes that whereas Barcelona rewarded massive downforce, Monaco is about getting the car tuned in to the circuit, “Here, having the right set up can make more More…

There was a curious incident during qualifying when Fernando Alonso exited his pit garage and almost drove straight into Nico Rosberg. The German braked hard and an accident was avoided, but Rosberg called for a penalty for the Spaniard over the radio and the FIA stewards decided to fine him and the Ferrari team $20,000 for unsafe release. It was a bit like a footballer who calls for a fellow professional to get a yellow card. Operationally it was unusual that there was no Ferrari mechanic in the pit lane in front of the car, looking to see if the More…

Fernando Alonso has been speaking about life at Ferrari in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The Spaniard has claimed Michael Schumacher’s decision to turn his back on Ferrari in favour of a return to Formula 1 with Mercedes GP has helped him settle in more quickly with Italian team. Alonso, who won the season opener in Bahrain and currently lies third in the championship with 49 points, is clearly enjoying competing at the front again after spending two relatively uncompetitive seasons at Renault and feels the absence of Schumacher, both as a driver and Ferrari team consultant, More…

Fernando Alonso has been speaking in Madrid today at a press event organised by Ferrari sponsor Santander. The 28 year old said that he was relatively pleased to have got through the opening four races with the points he has and believes his title challenge is on target. Alonso lies third in the championship with 49 points after one win and two fourth places, behind Rosberg on 50 points and championship leader Button on 60 points. More importantly his competitive instincts have been revived after an uncompetitive 2009 season with Renault, where he could not contemplate winning, even in the More…

Fernando Alonso had another astonishing afternoon in the Chinese Grand Prix, coming through from the 17th place to claim fourth spot. Afterwards he said he had had enough of F1′s wacky races and wanted some more straight forward weekends, “We hope we get to have a normal race, ” he said. “These GPs with 5 pit stops don’t help us – I’m not even sure how many stops we had. Up to now we have only had one normal race, in Bahrain. I won that race, and we were first and second.” He’s right that since Bahrain the races have More…

One of the interesting human interest stories to come out of this Melbourne weekend was the renewal of the niggly relationship between Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher. The pair have history. Alonso is the driver Schumacher identified as his biggest threat as early as 2002, when the Spaniard was test driver for Renault. They battled for the title in 2006 and in Monaco that year, things came to a head when Schumacher blocked the track in qualifying. Alonso was one of the drivers prevented from taking pole by that move and was very angry about it. Privately, he threatened to More…

Today was a real vindication of the decision taken last summer by Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali to stop development of the 2009 car and throw everything at the 2010 model. The Ferrari was the best car overall this weekend in various conditions. It was quick on the single lap, quick on the soft tyre at the start of the race when the car was heavy and quick on the medium tyre in the second part of the race as the fuel load lightened. The Red Bull may have been quicker in the soft tyre parts of that, but when the More…

Yesterday, amid all the drama around Ferrari and USF1, we had another bouncy communication from Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. He has been speaking with Don McRae of the Guardian, who has a good relationship with Ferrari’s communications department and has done some very good pieces with Felipe Massa in recent years. Alonso says that the bookies have got it right in backing him as favourite for the title, “Put the money on me now!” he jokes. But he underlines the optimism he has already shown about the competitiveness of the Ferrari, “I expect Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull to be More…

Fernando Alonso held his first press conference in Ferrari colours today. He spoke about his desire to win many championships with Ferrari, to end his career there and denied requesting number one status at any stage of his career. He also said that he expects to have a good relationship with team mate Felipe Massa. His theme was that joining Ferrari was the culmination of a long journey in his career, that he was now at home in the Ferrari family. But being Alonso, he couldn’t resist an edgy comment about his McLaren days, suggesting that he felt like a More…

Ferrari is hosting its annual media and sponsor event in the Italian ski resort Madonna di Campiglio this week and that means that there will be plenty of Ferrari-related headlines for the next few days. Today it was the turn of team principal Stefano Domenicali to speak. He talked about Ferrari’s need to get back to the front of the grid, he spoke about the importance of fuel consumption this season, now that refuelling is banned and he talked about history, recent history. “Let’s not forget Fernando is the only driver on the track who in his career has beaten More…

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has again put the spotlight on Fernando Alonso and Ferrari’s expectation of him that he will work for the team and not for himself. The driver of whom Ron Dennis once said, “Competitive animals know no limits” and Martin Whitmarsh said, “As long as they can keep him winning I’m sure he will be happy,” comes to Maranello with a bit of baggage and Montezemolo has chosen to confront this head on. He said today that he had spoken with Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali “1,000s of times” about this subject while assessing the risks More…

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali has shed a little more light on the decision to drop Kimi Raikkonen and hire Fernando Alonso, saying that Alonso is a better development driver, more in the mould of Michael Schumacher and that is what the team needs. Domenicali’s comments will dismay Raikkonen, who has just signed a contract to compete in the World Rally Championship. I have checked with Ferrari and the quotes are genuine. They are downplaying the Raikkonen comments as ‘superficial’, however they say that the sentiments about Alonso are what the team feels at this time. Domenicali was quoted yesterday More…

Fernando Alonso today took his first bow as a Ferrari driver, appearing at the Ferrari finals day in Valencia. A crowd in excess of 17,000 turned up at the Riccardo Tormo circuit to see Alonso and his 2010 team mate Felipe Massa and to watch the final rounds of some of the key Ferrari championships featuring 129 drivers from around the world. When it was announced earlier in the year that this important day in the Ferrari calendar would take place in Spain, it was yet more proof that a deal to take Alonso to Ferrari was in the pipeline, More…

Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari adventure is underway. The two time world champion has begun the programme of seat fitting and preliminary work with the Scuderia. Alonso has been quite vague recently when asked about when he would be free to join his new team. I asked him about it on the Friday of the Abu Dhabi weekend and he said he did not know. He has some links with Renault sponsors and negotiations are ongoing to put an end date to engagements. Ferrari’s official website confirms that the Spaniard arrived at Maranello around 8am, met with team principal Stefano Domenicali, saw More…

I sat down with a few others last night to talk to Fernando Alonso, for the last time as a Renault driver. Fernando has his detractors among the public, especially in Britain, but he is always interesting to talk to and has strong things to say. Last night he was on great form, talking about the season past, the disappointment of not being able to fight for the championship, and his prospects of getting to work with Ferrari towards the end of next month, possibly into December. As he came to the Renault hospitality area in the paddock, four women More…

Felipe Massa is playing an interesting game at the moment, with regards to his team mate for next season, Fernando Alonso. First at a lunch for Brazilian journalists yesterday in Sao Paolo, he claimed that Alonso must have known about the Singapore crash plot, even though he was cleared of involvement by the FIA, “Fernando knew, ” he said. “Of course he knew, I’m 100% certain of that. In a team it is impossible not to know the strategy of the other driver.” Many of the drivers say the same thing privately, but have not wanted to say it publicly. More…

Michael Schumacher has posted a short quote on his website saying that Ferrari’s move to hire Fernando Alonso has his full backing and, what’s more, he was in on it from the start. “Fernando with Ferrari, that’s something I like a lot. I was involved from the very beginning in this decision, and I always liked the idea. I am sure Fernando will feel well with us, and I can only say: Welcome, Fernando!” Much has been made of the apparent strain in relations between the two following their intense battle for the 2006 world championship. Alonso was very angry More…

There was quite a bit of relief on all sides today that we were finally able to talk to Fernando Alonso about being a Ferrari driver and get proper answers out of him, instead of ‘Wait and see”. To listen to him and Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali today, we were told that they had agreed a deal during the summer for Alonso to come to the team in 2011, but then when Renault got themselves embroiled in the Singapore carsh fixing scandal, the opportunity opened up to make the move a year early. Alonso said, “Something wonderful changed,” which hardly More…

It is looking as though the long running saga over Fernando Alonso’s move to Ferrari is drawing to a conclusion. Ferrari’s Stefano Domenicali said that things would be settled in the next two weeks. An announcement of Massa and Alonso for 2010 would play very well if it were made in Brazil, at Massa’s home race, but they may not be able to hold on to the story for that long, so it may come sooner. Traditionally Ferrari has made its announcements by this time of year, they usually come at Monza. When pressed Domenicali did not rule out Massa More…

Fernando Alonso, the driver who benefitted most from Nelson Piquet’s deliberate accident in Singapore last year, has been summoned by the FIA to give evidence to the World Council on Monday. According to Gazzetta dello Sport, former team principal Flavio Briatore has also been summoned, but not Pat Symonds, whom the FIA investigators found to be centrally involved in the conspiracy. Symonds is believed to be on holiday in Spain. Both men have left the team and Briatore is thus under no compulsion to attend and is unlikely to do so. Whether he does or he doesn’t there is a More…

It got lost in the wake of Renault’s announcement today, but according to further leaked material from the prosecution’s dossier into the events surrounding Nelson Piquet’s accident in Singapore last year, the FIA believes that Fernando Alonso knew nothing of the alleged conspiracy. Alonso won the race thanks to a safety car triggered by Nelson Piquet’s accident, which he alleges was a conspiracy involving senior Renault management. In summing up a lengthy document detailing the interview and investigations carried out by stewards at the recent Belgian Grand Prix, assisted by the FIA’s Herbie Blash, Lars Osterlind says, “As regards Mr More…

The saga over Fernando Alonso’s move to Ferrari looked on Friday like it was finally being cleared up. Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo said that Fernando Alonso will join Ferrari one day, but hinted strongly that it will be 2011, rather than 2010. But the signals continue to suggest that this situation is fluid. My understanding of the much rumoured agreement with Alonso has always been that it was for 2011, with a clause for 2010 if there was a vacancy. I wrote about this last Christmas. Both Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen have firm contracts for 2010 and it More…

Fernando Alonso spoke today at his usual Thursday afternoon press briefing about the investigation into the events of last year’s Singapore Grand Prix, which he won thanks to a safety car triggered by his team mate Nelson Piquet’s accident. “I’m very surprised. I cannot imagine this situation, so as I said, I’m surprised, and it’s time to think in another job, in Monza and the next grand prix because I’m not spending any more time on this.” He added: “I will not comment too much about this, as the team said we will not comment. For me it’s not even More…

This afternoon I sat down, along with various press colleagues, with Fernando Alonso, Robert Kubica and Nico Rosberg and all three gave very interesting insights into their thought processes at this important time in the driver market. It’s quite possible that all three drivers will move teams for next year. Widespread rumour since last Christmas has Alonso going to Ferrari (either next year or 2011), Kubica has a choice of Williams, Renault and Toyota, Rosberg will probably either stay put or move to McLaren Mercedes. This stage of the season is all about trying to unpick the lock, to figure More…

I went from the Kimi Raikkonen press briefing this afternoon to the Fernando Alonso one and there was an interesting little cameo which came to light. There were some quotes yesterday from Luca Badoer saying that he had no help from Kimi Raikkonen, but Badoer said sportingly that this was “Kimi’s character.” This was interesting when taken in conjunction with the quotes from Felipe Massa to the effect that he had not had any kind of get well message from Raikkonen. Perhaps mindful of this, when he was asked whether he had helped Badoer, who struggled today, Raikkonen said “No More…

The FIA has published the reasons behind the decision of the Appeal Court to reduce the one race ban imposed on Renault for the unsafe release of Fernando Alonso’s car in Budapest with a loose wheel. And it seems that four of the team’s main rivals on the grid, Ferrari, McLaren Red Bull and Toyota, helped them by writing letters of support, even outlining that their own pit stop procedures would need to be revised. “It could have happened to any of us” appears to be the message. There is certainly a bit of FOTA unity going on here and More…