2011 end of term report – Fernando Alonso

Runner-up in 2010, Fernando Alonso hoped to climb on the top step of the championship’s podium in 2011. Unfortunately, his Ferrari was not competitive enough to allow him to challenge Sebastian Vettel on a regular basis and he quickly had to give up on his championship’s expectations.

Season review

The first laps of the Ferrari 150° Italia were promising and it showed good pace during the winter testing. However, Alonso and his team quickly came back to reality once the season started.

In Australia, the Spaniard finished the race behind Vitaly Petrov. He was fourth, more than 30 seconds behind race winner Sebastian Vettel. The Ferrari was nowhere near as competitive as the Red Bull or even the McLaren.
In Malaysia, Alonso targeted a podium finish but damaged his front wing in a collision with Hamilton’s McLaren. He finished in sixth position. In China, he was 7th. After the first three rounds, the Scuderia had to admit it might not be able to challenge for the championship in 2011.

He scored his first podium in Turkey, crossing the line in 3rd place behind the Red Bulls. Behind the scenes, he renewed his contract with Ferrari for a few more years. On his home soil, he made a storming start to take the lead of the Spanish Grand Prix. He led for 21 laps but eventually crossed the line in 5th place.

At Monaco, he passed Webber at the start and spent most of the race in 3rd place. In the closing laps, he was part of a three-way battle for the win. Unfortunately, the race was red-flagged, which allowed Vettel to take on fresh tyres and sprint towards the win at the restart. Alonso couldn’t stay close enough to the Red Bull and had to content himself with second.

In Canada, he managed to qualify on the front row of the grid, alongside Sebastian Vettel. On Sunday, he collided with Button on lap 37. He spun and remained stuck over a kurb. His race was run.

From then on, Alonso scored twelve top five finishes, including 8 podiums and 1 win… which was no mean feat considering the Ferrari was the third fastest car on the grid. He was 2nd at Valencia and won the British Grand Prix. Interestingly enough, Silverstone was the only race of the year where exhaust blowing was restricted. He also benefited from a slow pit stop for Vettel.

Second in Germany and third in Hungary, the two-time World Champion was involved in two brilliant overtaking moves in Belgium and Italy. At Spa, he had an intense fight with Mark Webber. The Australian came out on top after a breathtaking overtaking move at ‘Eau Rouge’. Then, in Italy, he was attacked on the outside by Sebastian Vettel.

In the final part of the season, Alonso gave his all to score a second win. Unfortunately, his effort was vain. He finished 4th at Singapore, 2nd in Japan, 5th in Korea, 3rd in India, 2nd at Abu Dhabi and 4th in Brazil.

Conclusion

Fernando Alonso was hailed by many as the best driver of the season, given his performance at the wheel of a car which was clearly not the fastest out there. He managed to take the most out of it to get some strong results, including several podiums and a win.
He will be racing with Ferrari until the end of 2016 and hopes to quickly come back at the front. He has already stated his confidence for 2012 and will aim for a third world title.

Highs
—  Win at Silverstone
—  Strong results, outperformed his car
—  Leader of the Scuderia Ferrari

Lows
—  Difficult races at the start of the season
—  Collided with Button in Canada
—  Missed 3rd in the championship by a single point

Nextgen-Auto.com marks:
— Olivier Ferret : 18/20
— D.Thys : 18/20
— Sandrine Bouchard : 16/20
— Jean-Michel Setbon : 18/20
— Average mark on the forum Nextgen-Auto.com : 17/20
—  Total : 87/100