Alonso happy for Massa to win in Brazil

Fernando Alonso on Thursday insisted he would accept not winning in Brazil this weekend so long as he finishes ahead of his championship rivals.

With two races left to run, the Spaniard is 11 points clear of Red Bull’s Mark Webber, meaning that both Alonso and Ferrari will be happy if local hero and Interlagos specialist Felipe Massa wins on Sunday.

"He (Massa) will want to show his fans what he can do so I expect him to be very much up for the fight," said team boss Stefano Domenicali this week.

"He will be very quick, which is exactly what we need right now to reach our goals," added the Italian.

Alonso told reporters on Thursday that the important thing for him in Brazil is a strong result ahead of his title rivals, not necessarily the race win itself.

"I think the best thing for us will be to have Felipe winning the race because he takes 25 points from everybody else," he said. "That is the biggest difference this year: 25 points for winning and 18 for second. Then for second to third, third to fourth is a very small difference, which may allow me to keep the advantage that I have. The worry for me is the 25 points, and if one of the contenders takes these 25 points. Hopefully Felipe can win both races, that will be the best thing for me."