Ferrari's Alonso says team error allowed Red Bull to claim top spots

Fernando Alonso

Alonso and teammate Felipe Massa opted to delay their timed lap in the first phase of qualifying due to showers, but they failed to subside and when the pair did finally take to the circuit, they were unable to find the pace they needed to progress to Q2.

Consequently, Alonso lined up in 19th for yesterday's race with Massa 21st but both drove superbly to climb into the top 10.

However, engine failure later on brought an end to Alonso's race while Massa crossed the line in seventh place as Sebastian Vettel led teammate Mark Webber in a Red Bull one-two.

"This was a very difficult weekend," said Alonso. "We made a big mistake in yesterday's qualifying and today in the race, I had to retire with an engine problem.

Being positive
"Trying to look on the positive side, at least the engine failure only cost me two points as it would have been much worse if I had been in the lead.

"Today, we gave Red Bull a little gift. If we had qualified in a normal fashion then we would certainly have given them a hard time. I am not worried about the engine failure, as our engineers have enough experience and ability to resolve this situation."

Alonso won the season-opening race in Bahrain before finishing fourth in Australia to claim the early lead in the drivers' championship.

However, his failure to finish today's race has seen him displaced at the top of the standings by teammate Massa.

The Spaniard, though, remained upbeat on his chances of making amends in the next race in Shanghai on April 18.

"Given everything that happened, we can be proud of what we managed to do in the race," he added.
"We can look forward with confidence to the next grand prix, which we will be trying to win."

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