‘I give up, I give up’ – Alonso

not one to give up
By Tifosa
October 17 2011

…These were the slightly eyebrow-raising comments heard from Fernando Alonso over his pit-radio during the Korean GP that perplexed quite a few listeners.

Alonso is known as a tough fighter and one who does not give up even if there is just a sniff of a chance. So why was he saying this to his pitwall 2 laps from the end of the race? Was it to throw off the McLaren driver in front of him and goad Jenson Button into relaxation mode?

Not really, as Alonso was being sincere in his comments. Apparently, he made a slight mistake just before his comments, which meant that doing in two laps what he couldn’t do in twenty i.e. overtake Button, was not going to be possible.

In Alonso’s own words: "I had a little moment close to the wall. So, I asked the team how many laps left and they said 'two' and I said 'with two, I cannot do it'."

The Spaniard did not have an easy time early in the race when he was on the super-soft tires and spent many laps behind teammate Felipe Massa.

“All in all, it was an interesting race, with plenty of action. At the start, I was struggling a bit to match the pace of the leaders, because, after just a few laps, the super softs were already producing a lot of understeer. On top of that, being in traffic all the time compromised still further the tire performance, because there was less aerodynamic downforce,” he said.

However, later on after the change to the softs, his pace improved a lot and he was able to overtake Massa, as well as Nico Rosberg of Mercedes.

“When we switched to the softs, the situation improved significantly and, with a clear track, I was able to push as hard as I could. I was only quick in the last stint so we will try to see why but by then it was difficult to reach the small group that was fighting for the podium: hence what I said on the radio, having given my all for twenty laps, but there was no way I could do more with just two laps to go.”

“We must try and improve our Saturday performance, but we will not give up trying to secure a win in the remaining races of this season. Furthermore, we will continue to work towards next year, trying new things and maybe, taking a few risks with our strategy.”

Now we know: Alonso is not really giving up on taking a victory in the last three races of the season. Time (and races) is running out though...but if anyone can do it, it's surely the tenacious Alonso!