Alonso's comments after the race at Sepang

By role
March 24 2003

On the press coneference after the race Alonso told his impressions on the race and on his podium. It was a difficult race for him taking under consideration he had to fight fever plus some gearbox problems.

Q: Fernando, you made good use of your pole. Talk us through that early phase of the race.
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, everything was OK. Our strategy worked pretty much as we expected. We had enough fuel to do a normal two stop strategy, and you know, in the first stint, it was a really good feeling to be in front of the race. But then I was fighting with Rubens in the second stint, and in the third one, I had a little problem with the car, with the gear change, so I changed manually in the last laps and I was very lucky to finish the race. I have to say thank you to the team because this weekend was fantastic for me.
Q: We hear that your fever came back again on race morning.
FA: Yes, yes. At the start of the race, my temperature was 38.5 more or less and now it's quite high. I feel quite sick at the moment.
Q: Fernando, obviously very pleased to be on the podium, but you were on pole position: a little bit disappointed?
FA: No, no (laughter). I'm really happy to be on the podium. We proved that qualifying was very good strategy for us. We were not too light on fuel because we did the stops more or less when the others did the stops. So we proved that we were competitive again, we proved our reliability which is quite good at the moment. The team did a fantastic job all weekend and for me, it's the best weekend in my life probably.
Q: What was the problem with the car at the end?
FA: Yeah, it was something in the gearbox probably, because I had to change all the shifts manually. I was very lucky at that point to finish the race and now I feel very good, because I had my fingers crossed for the last ten laps.
Q: Did you still have all the gears; there was a rumour that you didn't have fifth?
FA: No, no, I had all the gears, no problem whatever, but I changed at very low revs to keep running and save third place.
Q: Was that the only problem during the race?
FA: Yes, yes, that was the only problem. At the beginning the car was very good, second stint it wasn't that good, a little problem with understeer with the second set of tyres. I fought a little bit with Rubens, and then on the third stint I had that particular problem but the race was perfect, apart from the first corner when I was little bit unhappy when I saw the accident, because Jarno was so very competitive all weekend and I was a little bit down for the team, but for me, personally, it was a fantastic race.
It was an amazing feeling for me to be leading 14 laps, keeping the gap to Kimi more or less constant. It was really a good fight and a very special feeling.
Q: Fernando, how much did you notice your fever during the race itself or were you concentrating so hard that you didn't notice it?
FA: I notice! Unfortunately, the last part of the race, the last 20 or 25 laps, I felt quite bad and quite sick but you keep concentrated and you are pushing like crazy. I did 46 laps of qualifying. In the beginning, I fight with Kimi to keep a constant gap, the second stint with Rubens to give a little advantage for the second place, and then the third stint I was fighting with car a little bit, with the gearbox, so, you know, even if I felt a little bit … I kept on pushing.
Q: Fernando, after qualifying there was lot of speculation about not only the difference between your car and the others but also between yours and Jarno's. Because Jarno was out on the first lap we don't know what the strategy was. Can you tell us what you were planning to do and what the difference was between the fuel weight of your car and Jarno's?
FA: I don't know (laughter! I think there was two or three laps' difference, that's normal, because both drivers cannot stop on the same lap. But we proved we had enough fuel to do our normal strategy of two stops and all the people that talked yesterday that we were very light on fuel and we would come in lap six or seven we of course proved wrong. We were competitive and I think Brazil will be very goods for us and for our car.
Q: Fernando, when did you become aware of the fact that you were the youngest ever pole position winner?
FA: For me, it doesn't matter if you're the youngest or not. I'm pretty happy to be the youngest man because I started in go-karts so early. I raced in Formula Nissan at 17, in Formula 3000 at 18 and Minardi at 18, so I was always the youngest driver in all of the categories. To be the youngest also to have the pole position is a good thing, and I hope to be youngest driver to win a race. I don't know how much time I've got. It's not possible? Maybe the youngest man to win the world championship (laughter).
Q: Rubens. What is your opinion about Fernando (laughter)?
RB: The bastard beat me to the youngest, so … I'm very happy. I think both are future world champions. I just hope I can win the world championship before them!