- Indian Grand Prix
Ferrari 'the last ones to fight' - Alonso
Fernando Alonso said Ferrari should take heart from being "the last ones to fight" against Sebastian Vettel this season.
Ferrari dropped to third in the constructors' championship after a disappointing Indian Grand Prix in which Alonso failed to score and Felipe Massa was fourth. However, with many questions about Vettel - who secured his fourth world championship in India - Alonso said Ferrari had still managed to do a better job than everyone else chasing Red Bull.
"It's not a surprise, we knew that Sebastian was becoming champion three or four races ago already because I had to win all the races and he needed to finish fifth or something like that," Alonso said. "So it was something that you already put inside and today is just like the mathematical championship finished but it's not surprising or anything like that.
"[I feel] nothing really. This is a sport, someone did better than us this year - this was Sebastian and Red Bull - and next year we will try to do better and keep fighting until the end. This year we were fighting until three races until the end; we were the only ones because the others went mathematically a little bit earlier because we have second in the championship. So inside all the bad things we were the last ones to fight."
Alonso's race was effectively ruined by contact with Mark Webber at the first corner and Jenson Button later on the first lap, but Alonso said Ferrari hadn't been quick enough all weekend.
"Obviously not the clearest start. It was a little bit unlucky because I think Mark was also having contact with someone and then the third part of that equation was me. With Button as well in corner four … it was a little bit of a mixed start. The race was uphill from that moment because we were last with one more stop than the others already so a difficult race and not enough pace.
"[The wheel] was damaged. I think the front toe or something because the steering wheel was very heavy through the right corners and very light to the left. So there was something going on there, but it was not only that problem. Overall the whole weekend was not good enough and in Abu Dhabi we need to improve if we want to pass Mercedes in the constructors' championship."
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