Despite winning in Malaysia last month, Fernando Alonso is expecting a miserable weekend in Bahrain. On the back of his surprise Sepang victory, the Spaniard qualified and finished just ninth in China, and he is not expecting a better Ferrari until next month's return to European grands prix. "Obviously, this (result) does not leave me very optimistic for Bahrain, on a track where traction and speed are vital, exactly the areas where we are weakest," said Alonso in Shanghai.
Even more bluntly, he said the Maranello based team is "far behind" the pacesetters because the F2012 has "big problems" in aerodynamics. But the bright side, Alonso insisted, is that the field of 2012 is oddly tightly bunched. "If we improve two, three tenths then we can jump several opponents," he is quoted by Brazil's O Estado de S.Paulo. "The fight now is for fractions of seconds."
After Ferrari and Sauber were quick in Malaysia, Mercedes' Nico Rosberg dominated in China -- but many in the paddock still believe McLaren has the quickest car overall. Indeed, Jenson Button is ruing a team mistake - a cross-threaded wheel nut during a pitstop - that he says cost him a shot at Shanghai victory. "There can't be many more mistakes if you want to compete for a championship, definitely not," he said. (GMM)
Fernando Alonso doesn't fancy his chances for Bahrain
- Published on 16 Apr 2012 16:10
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- By: Rob Veenstra
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Driver profile
- Team Aston Martin
- Points 629
- Podiums 9
- Grand Prix 199
- Country ES
- Date of b. Jul 29 1981 (44)
- Place of b. Oviedo, ES
- Weight 68 kg
- Length 1.71 m
- 187,793 comments on Aston Martin
78 members have this team as their favourite
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Team profile
- Team name McLaren
- Base Woking, United Kingdom
- Jenson Button 1
- Lewis Hamilton 1
- Fernando Alonso 1
- Niki Lauda 1
- Stoffel Vandoorne 2
- Lewis Hamilton 2
- Lewis Hamilton 2
- Gerhard Berger 2
- Daniel Ricciardo 3
- Jenson Button 3
- Lewis Hamilton 3
- Kimi Räikkönen 3
- Mika Häkkinen 3
- Lando Norris 4
- Lewis Hamilton 4
- Jenson Button 4
- Kimi Räikkönen 4
- Jenson Button 5
- Sergio Perez 6
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- Kimi Räikkönen 6
- Niki Lauda 8
- Alain Prost 8
- Kimi Räikkönen 9
- Fernando Alonso 14
- Kevin Magnussen 20
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- Lewis Hamilton 22
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- Stoffel Vandoorne 47
- Carlos Sainz jr 55
- Oscar Piastri 81
- 305,656 comments on McLaren
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