At least officially, Alonso isn't looking around elsewhere on the grid - yet... (LAT Photo)
It’s exactly five years since Fernando Alonso scored his first Grand Prix victory in Hungary, marking himself out as a future title contender. Last year his season with McLaren began to unravel in Hungary after the controversial qualifying saga. This year the Budapest track might allow him to get a little nearer the front, and no doubt he will once again be running a lighter fuel load than most on Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile, the F1 world awaits firm news about his future, with suggestions that he’s been looking for a new Swiss home just over the Italian border leading to the inevitable conclusions. This is what the Spaniard had to say when he met the media in Hungary.
Q: Fernando, you have won here before and been on pole here. Is it a good circuit for Renault?
“We will see. It has been a good circuit for Renault in the past. But there have been this year some good circuits for us in the past and this year it is not anymore like that, so we will see how is this weekend. Obviously we arrive with some confidence and some optimistic feeling. In Jerez we found some good solutions it seems, so it depends of course how the others improve as well. But we should be a little bit better again here.”
Q: What is the feeling within the team after the second place in Hockenheim?
“I think more or less the same. Obviously the target and the goal for the rest of the season is very clear to try to be fourth in the Constructors’ Championship. Now we are sixth but only two points from Toyota and one from Red Bull, so the last race with eight points was a big, big step for us in terms of confidence and motivation to keep pushing. It didn’t change too much in the team but now we are closer to our goal.”
Q: Is development still continuing within the team or has that slowed looking forward to next year?
“No, there is still some developing in this car and some improvements in every race. It’s true also that in Jerez in some of the test we were also looking at next year’s car. We were testing with slick tires, so it was a good opportunity to test maybe new solutions for next year’s car but this year’s car is still the main priority at the moment.”
Q: Everyone says you are the key to the driver market next year. What is your contractual situation at Renault?
“I have a contract with Renault for the long term. But of course at the end of every season you need to look at what the possibilities are. It is not the time now in the middle of August to think but for sure in September and October I will have a think and we will decide.”
Q: You were fighting for the top places in past years and with this car it is not possible. Now you are looking a little sad. Can you describe the feeling for a pilot who has to go through this phase of a career? Is this the hardest phase of your career?
“No, the feeling is, as I said, sometimes a little bit of frustration when you see you do a perfect race and you finish sixth or seventh and there is nothing more than you can do. You do a perfect lap in qualifying, maybe you are fifth. This is not what I have been used to the last few three or four years when I have been on pole positions and on the podium. But it is part of the job and the sport is like that. You go up and down. It is not that the same guy is winning the Tour de France or the World Cup or whatever. Every year it’s a new challenge and some new difficulties. Now we are in a moment that is difficult. We need to recover a little bit of confidence and build a winning team again. We are in that phase but I am not worried. Obviously I am just 27 years old and still have many years to come. Even Michael Schumacher, the guy with more titles, spent four years at Ferrari not winning, so I need to be patient and I need to work harder than ever now to win again as soon as possible.”
