Alonso: 2012 the best season of my life 03 Dec 2012
A week after narrowly missing out on winning the Formula One drivers’ title at the final race of the season in Brazil, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso has spoken of the great satisfaction he takes from what he describes as a “spectacular” 2012 campaign.
“I am happy with the way things went,” he said. “In the end, we lost the title by three points, however I did the best season of my life and now I can only think of the year to come. It was a miracle to see, race after race, what we managed to achieve: we definitely did not lose the title in Brazil; that happened in Spa and Suzuka. Next year, we will try and improve the car, trying to start further up the grid, thus avoiding accidents. Let’s hope we also have a bit more luck…
“I think in terms of strategy, pit stops, starts, reliability, this has been a perfect year. We all agree the one thing lacking was the car, which meant we could not match the best teams for most of the year. It’s the only thing we need to improve, but it’s also true that it’s the hardest thing to do. With all the difficulties we had, I’m thinking for example of how far behind we were in winter testing, to be able to fight right to the very end for the title means we are a great team.”
In the three years he’s been with Ferrari, Alonso has twice gone into the final race of the season with a chance of winning the title. He’s been unsuccessful on each occasion, but the 31-year-old Spaniard believes the experiences have benefited him.
“Ever since I’ve been at Ferrari, I think I have grown a lot, especially this last year,” he said. “Before, the people had a more or less good opinion of me, but now I notice a whole different level of respect. And then, to be one of the greats of Formula One, it’s not enough to win titles, you must also tackle seasons like the one just ended. Next year? I hope to score three or four points more.”
Alonso will lead an unchanged driver line-up at Ferrari in 2013, as team mate Felipe Massa starts his eighth season with the Scuderia.
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