Fernando Alonso: It was one of the most difficult races

Fernando Alonso has explained how the Brazilian Grand Prix was one of the most difficult races of his career, mirroring the same beliefs of race winner Jenson Button who also described the season finale as the toughest of his career. Despite finishing 2nd, Fernando Alonso was still unable to clinch the Drivers’ Championship.

After starting the race from 7th, Fernando Alonso immediately capitalized on Sebastian Vettel’s early spin on the opening lap by rising up the order to 4th. However, with the Spaniard unwilling to take unnecessary risks in his plight to secure the Championship, he was forced to pit on Lap 11 for the intermediate tyre along with the likes of fellow Championship rival Sebastian Vettel. This saw him plummet down the order, however he steadily rose back up to 4th before once again pitting for the dry tyre as the track conditions began to steadily improve.

Fernando Alonso remained in 4th position for the majority of the race, however once the rain began to intensify once again, the Spaniard was forced to pit for intermediate tyres. This saw him drop behind his team-mate, however once Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton had their coming together, Massa allowed his team-mate through into what turned out to be 2nd position. However this was still not enough for the Championship, as Sebastian Vettel as able to finish 6th, allowing him to clinch his third successive Drivers’ Championship.

“It was more or less what we wanted.” Explained Fernando Alonso after the race, “Mixed conditions and [a] very, very difficult race. It was one of the most difficult races we ever drove, I think with the conditions out there and you [could] feel that you are with the wrong tyre every lap but you ask the team and everyone is in the same position so you need to keep fighting. There was a lot of risk every lap to crash and have an accident and finish the race there.”

With Ferrari’s F2012 car unquestionably slower than Red Bull’s RB8 on average throughout the season, Fernando Alonso’s superlative record of finishing all but two races all season and finishing on the podium thirteen times is a pure testament to the Spaniard’s unwavering competitiveness throughout the year. Fernando Alonso might not have secured the Drivers’ Championship, but he most certainly showed he is capable of remaining competitive regardless of the car supplied to him by the team.

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