Fernando Alonso says his race could not have been better, having taken victory in the Chinese Grand Prix.
Alonso took he lead from Lewis Hamilton early on and managed a three stop strategy to beat Kimi Raikkonen by 10 seconds.
“It couldn’t have gone better than this today! I hadn’t won since Germany and this has a special feeling because it was a tricky race full of action,” said Alonso.
“Along with the second place I got in Australia, this result shows that the car is competitive and that we are working in the right direction to always be in the fight for the podium.
“We had a good feeling all through the weekend and qualifying third gave us the possibility of fighting for the top places. Along with that all the important factors worked perfectly, such as set-up, strategy, calling the pit stops and the stops themselves. All together it produced a win that wasn’t easy at the end of a race in which we made the most of our pace and did a good job of managing the tyres, which was definitely the most dangerous aspect.”
“With no one dominating the Championship, it makes it extremely interesting, even if we are aware this is only the third race. We are under no illusions and we must continue to concentrate and do all we can to improve still further.”
Team-mate Felipe Massa was sixth, having struggled on the medium tyres.
“I was immediately quick and the car was working perfectly,” said Massa. “At the first stop, I fitted the Medium tyres and after a few laps I began to suffer with graining on the front.”
“That meant I lost ground to other cars and it was probably down to a problem linked to the track conditions and my driving style. All weekend, I haven’t felt comfortable with these tyres and in the race, any attempts I made to save them was useless. But for this problem, I would certainly have been in the fight for the podium, but I am still confident because, all the same, I was able to bring home a good points haul which is important in a season that has only just begun.”
