Alonso: Three things we must do

Two weeks ago we were in the spiritual home of the Red Bull team and now the weekend begins in the UK, the actual home for all but three of the F1 teams. But the first question asked of Fernando Alonso in his press meeting today, regarded Bernie Ecclestone’s comments that the Monza round might disappear from the calendar.

“I think we need to wait and see what happens officially,” cautioned the Ferrari man. “I think Bernie just answered a question but it’s not official. As drivers, we don’t have an input on where we race, we just try and put on a good show. Of course, it’s nice to go to circuits where the grandstands are full, and full of passion and atmosphere, like Monza, like Austria, like Spa and Barcelona. Let’s hope the best for Monza.”

As usual with Alonso, he always looks at the bigger picture and clearly, Scuderia Ferrari’s position in this year’s Constructors’ Championship has been exercising his mind.

“In Austria we were in a group with McLaren, Force India and Toro Rosso, so we need to keep improving to get a margin on those teams,” he explained. “McLaren and Red Bull are a bit ahead of us now. We need maximum effort and maximum concentration to do well in the Constructors’. Here at Silverstone, I expect Red Bull to return to form as this is a circuit where aerodynamics is important and they show potential in high speed corners. Williams will also be strong, as I don’t think it was just Austria that suited them.”

As to his own future after his current contract with the Scuderia expires, the man from Oviedo claimed to have considered it.

“I am not thinking too much about the longer term, because there are bigger priorities at the moment, I want to help the team and score as many points as possible this weekend and this year, because the interesting mix in the Constructors’ means you could finish second or sixth by the smallest of margins,” he said.

“We need to improve for next year and there are three things we must do: one is we must score points this year, because if we finish sixth or seventh that will hurt the team for next year, for example on the economical side, second is to test this year, especially on Fridays, some parts we can learn about for next year and and third is to spend time with the team: on Sunday night I will go back to Maranello and spend all week in the simulator. There is no time to relax. This is a time to work, the team expect things from me and I need to deliver.”