Fernando Alonso is not taking anything for granted as the Spaniard enters the half-way point of the Formula One season at the top of the driver's championship standings
Alonso led from the front in Hockenheim last weekend to pick up his third win of the season and open up a 34-point lead over the chasing pack. Ferrari’s pre-season pace suggested they would struggle to fight with the likes of Red Bull and McLaren at the front of the grid this year but in Alonso’s hands the car has been good enough to see him lead the way going into this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso takes a photo in the paddock at the Hungaroring circuit yesterday. Pic/AFP
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Easy ride
With the mid-season break meaning a five-week gap between Sunday’s race and the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa Alonso remains the favourite for the title, but he is not expecting an easy ride to his third driver’s championship crown.
He said: “I think we are in a good position in terms of points that we have achieved from the first half of the season, in the first 10 races. We have 10 more races with the same possibilities for everybody and I think the distance between the top five, top six in the championship is not a gap that is impossible to recover. You just need one good race or two good races so we need to keep the concentration and try to keep maximising what we can get from a weekend — sometimes we know that is a podium, sometimes that is a fifth position or a seventh but we cannot afford to make any mistakes or anything we regret.
“For the championship it is too early to think (about winning it).”—u00a0
Engine mapping won’t affect pace: Vettel
Although Red Bull have been forced to alter their engine mapping setup ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian GP, defending champion Sebastian Vettel insisted the changes will not affect the performance of his car. “I am quite confident that nothing will change,” said Vettel yesterday.
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