F1: Frustrated Alonso Disappointed With Ninth

Formula 1

F1: Frustrated Alonso Disappointed With Ninth

Ferrari driver admits strategy was off in China...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted April 16, 2012 Shanghai (CHN)

Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso of Spain drives in the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit on April 15, 2012. Alonso finished in ninth place. (Photo: Getty Images)

Fernando Alonso lost his World Championship lead in Shanghai after finishing only ninth after looking set to go away with a useful helping of points.

After starting in the same position Alonso made some good progress and spent part of the race in fourth place pushing Lewis Hamilton. However his relatively late last stop didn’t pay off and he tumbled down the order as the final stages of the race unfolded.

“It was not great, obviously we didn’t gain any positions,” said the Spaniard. “In Malaysia we said the strategy was perfect, was good, and today we have to be honest with ourselves knowing that it was not good. We didn’t make any single clear lap, we were always behind people and we finished behind Williams, so something went wrong for sure. So we need to analyze and improve for next time.”

Alonso said the team had expected more people to hit the ‘cliff’ with their tires in the same way as Kimi Raikkonen, which would have allowed him to take more advantage of his fresher rubber.

“It was busy, and also with the top speed we have at the moment it was not possible to overtake anyone on the straights, so we had to risk in some strange positions, and sometimes you go off the track. It was a tricky race.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.