Fernando Alonso defends Ferrari tactics

6 Sep 2011

Fernando Alonso has been quick to defend that tactics that his team chose during their most recent outing in Belgium...

The Ferrari driver has denied that it was the strategy that his team chose which ended up costing him a victory at last weekend's Belgian Grand Prix.

Alonso did not choose to make a pitstop when the safety car came out during the 13th lap of the race; this contrasted with the tactics used by Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, the eventual winner of the race, who stopped at this point in order to pick up some new tyres.

Unlike the young German driver, Alonso could not manage to achieve a podium finish; he finished in fourth place – though he has defended Ferrari's decision not to stop when Vettel did.

"The safety car came when our tyres were in good shape so we stayed out," commented Alonso.

"The choice was good for us and opened the possibility for us to win. But Vettel had more of a pace advantage."

The safety car was deployed following Lewis Hamilton's crash, which ended his race; it was at this point that Alonso became race leader, however, the two-time world champion could not hold on until the end of the race.

"The Red Bulls have an advantage of a second or a second and a half and when you have a car that is that much faster it is easy to stop one lap early or one lap late." stated the Spaniard.

Alonso is currently third in the drivers' championship, with only 10 points separating him and Red Bull's Mark Webber; although, Alonso is 102 points adrift of Vettel, who is looking increasingly likely to pick up his second drivers' championship title.

BlueSQ and 888Sport currently offer 15/2 odds that Mark Webber will win the upcoming Italian Grand Prix; meanwhile, Sky Bet set their odds at 11/2.