Alonso: win changes nothing

Fernando Alonso has insisted that his remarkable Malaysian Grand Prix win changes nothing when it comes to Ferrari’s place in Formula One pecking order and that the team has a lot of work ahead if it is to be competitive this season.

“I think it changes nothing, to be honest,” said Alonso of his 28th career win, achieved from eighth on the grid and in chaotic conditions. “We are in a position that we don’t want, to be fighting to go into Q3 and then fighting to score some points.

“I think there is no secret,” he added. “We are not having the easiest start to the championship, with some problems in the car and some lack of pace, but we are working on that, working day and night. In the next coming races we need to have a very aggressive approach in terms of the development of the car. We need to bring updates to every race because we are a little bit too far behind or more than what we want or what we expect. Alonso said, however, that the victory in Sepang should provide extra motivation for the team ahead the next brace of races, in China and Bahrain.

“Now that we are leading the championship we should be quite proud of the job, but we need to work,” he said. “From a psychological point of view, the win will (give) more motivation to the guys in Maranello. They don’t need motivation because they work for Ferrari and they need to do the maximum for this red car and they know that, but after one win they will go tomorrow at eight o’clock to work with a smile and that maybe will give us some ideas."

And, he concluded, those ideas could appear on the F2012 in the coming weeks. “Coming to China, Bahrain, Barcelona, there is a lot of stuff coming to improve the car and this is the real job we have to do,” he said. “I know the team is putting in a lot of effort. We trust each other a lot in the team, we are very united at the moment and this win will make us very happy today and maybe the next two days in the factory but it doesn’t change our determination to improve the car and to keep winning.”