F1: Raikkonen Yellows Cost Me Third On Grid, Says Alonso

Formula 1

F1: Raikkonen Yellows Cost Me Third On Grid, Says Alonso

Fernando Alonso blamed a late Kimi Raikkonen spin in qualifying for costing him a better grid spot...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted October 06, 2012 Suzuka (JPN)

Fernando Alonso was seventh in Japanese GP qualifying, and moves up to sixth on the grid. (Photo: Getty Images)

Fernando Alonso says he would be starting as high as third in Japan if his final qualifying lap had not been compromised by yellow flags for a spinning Kimi Raikkonen.

Alonso says he would have been fourth, behind Jenson Button, and would then have gained from the McLaren driver’s penalty. Instead, he finished the session in seventh, and moves up to sixth.

“We were the only ones to get it,” said Alonso. “Five seconds there were no yellow flags, the car behind me was a green flag already, so we just lost probably position four, which was our target on the split times. With
Button’s penalty, it would have been starting third tomorrow, so the race was much different. Very unlucky today.”

Alonso remains upbeat about Sunday’s race, although he acknowledged that the competition is tough.

“Tire degradation seems quite high, so we need to do the maximum for that," said the World Championship leader. "I think the start will be also important. We have the two McLarens behind us, they have a very strong race pace, so there will be a challenge there. But points are on Sunday, so we need to be optimistic.

“Together with McLaren, Red Bull have dominated nearly all the pole positions, etc., so they keep doing an amazing job. We know that we need to improve. We are fighting against big, big cars, and big-performing cars. At the moment, we are doing more or less OK, saving some Sundays. But we know that Saturdays, especially over one single lap, we cannot do anything.”

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.

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