Alonso describes his race at Nürburgring!

By role
June 30 2003

Renault F1 driver was quite satisfied at the end of the race with the 4th position. It as one of the hardest races for the young Spaniard that had to fight off both David Coulthard and Michael Schumacher

On an interview with Europa Press Alonso declared that it was quite a tough race at the Nürburgring.

“The start was complicated. On the second turn I could pass some cars on the outside , but then I lost out on the third turn, I think it was Jarno (Trulli) and another car. At the ned I could only overtake one of the two (possibly Panis) and therefore staying 7th. From there on was a constant fight against the clock because to overtake was quite hard and I had to drive as fast I could before the pit stop and to maintain the position.”

Alonso was able to overtake Trulli on his first pit stop. On the second stop a small refueling problem from David Coulthard meant that the Scot had to rejoin the track behind the Spaniard.

After his second stop Alonso was really having trouble with his car and he could not keep the pace he had shown earlier on.

“After the last stop I was loosing the tail of the car from a problem with the rear tyres and that made me go slower than usual, I had to suffer with Coulthard and on the last lap with Michael (Schumacher). To finish 4th it was the maximum I could have got in such a weekend. There were three or four turns in which I had to drive closing holes and braking too late almost loosing control. At the end he (Coulthard) had a small off and it has helped me as I was against the cords”. He said.

He was supposed to have a quiet race until the end but Michael Schumacher came pressing hard on the last two turns:

“I thought it was going to be calm until the end but I was not as lucky. Michael arrived like a bullet from behind in the last lap and I had to fight with him on the last two turns” Alonso said.

Alonso was forced to brake before other drivers in the turn due to the problems with his tyres:

“I had to brake earlier than them because I did not have any grip, I could not enter too fast on the turns. I guess Coulthard braked much later than I and he lost it.” He declared. “We have suffered quite a lot in here all weekend. Even on the race where we usually have quite good set-ups, we have had problems on the last stop. Even if things went wrong we have finished in the top 4 and the end of this complicated weekend has been great. The car was good at Canada and we could not do more. We are achieving more than we can hope and we have to keep dreaming every weekend.”
Everybody saw the celebrations of Fernando when he crossed the finish line:
“It has been a great feeling when I crossed the finish line. It has been the first time I have been fighting with great drivers as Michael and Coulthard, and it has been during quite some laps. To win these fights it’s great fro me.” He concluded.