Alonso smiles when the Ferrari stalls

Fernando Alonso's car stalled at the Barcelona circuit on the second day of testing, and surprisingly Alonso was all smiles at the end of the day.

Whenever a car stalls it questions the reliability of the car, and the drivers are generally concerned.

However, speaking to the EFE news agency, he explained why he looked at ease and smiling when the car was getting fixed.

He said, "A mechanic had told me what when we go well in Barcelona (testing) the championship goes badly, and when we go badly in Barcelona the championship is historically very good for Ferrari," said Alonso.

"Of course I wasn't hoping for a problem but, when the car stopped, he came to me very happy that this year will go well," laughed the 2xWDC.

Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel and his team-mate, Mark Webber feel the Ferrari is strong this year, as Webber, speaking to Auto Motor und Sport, said, "They finished strongly last year, and they've started strongly with the new car."

"It's almost always on the track. They're well organised, they waste no time, they're fast," said Webber.

While, Williams' technical director Sam Michael has warned Red Bull not to take Ferrari lightly.

He commented, "Red Bull would make a mistake to underestimate Ferrari. The car looks pretty fast on the long runs."

Sebastian Vettel did impress with his qualifying runs, but the talk in the paddock is that the Ferrari is reliable on the long runs, and the tyre might play a crucial rule in deciding who is better on race days.