Alonso: I have never felt pressure in Formula 1

By role
May 7 2004

Spanish driver Fernando Alonso took part yesterday on the official FIA Press Conference ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix that will take place in Barcelona.

The Spaniard will be backed by a huge amount of fans that will for sure set the record of attendance at the Spanish track with more than 100.000 people expected for the race.

Last year Alonso showed that he could drive with the pressure after finishing second in front of a crowd of 98.000 people many of whom were showing the blue and yellow flags of Alonso’s home region Asturias.

This year Alonso is also confident that he will not experience any pressure while driving in front of his home crowd:

“No. No, because, in Formula One, I have honestly not felt the pressure. Never, from 2001.” He said.

Alonso, however, does not want to predict a result for the race:

“It is unpredictable, I think, to make a prediction for the race. But I have good memories from last year, it was a good race, the car was fantastic here, and I really hope to have the same car, competitive here all the weekend, and I will have a chance. From my side I will do 200 percent for this race because are a lot of people have come to support me, I like the track, I like to race here, it is my home Grand Prix and, for sure, to do something like last year is for me a dream now on Thursday.” He added.

There are many rumours around the paddock that the stability of the R24 is not as good as the one they enjoyed last year with the R23 and that may be the reason for the team’s suffering on one lap qualifying:

“Well, at the start of the season the drivers normally feel a little bit uncomfortable and difficult with the new cars but we felt the same with the R22, the R23 and now the R24. It is time to get used to the car, to get to know the car perfectly, to work with the engineers to set up the car properly for the races. I am quite confident we have a good potential, a good package, much better than last year, the chassis and the engine. I think we are quite competitive and I think it is time to can get more points, finish the races and maybe to be on the podium a little bit more often for Jarno and me.” He said. “…there are many races in two months and we have to push a lot now if we want to go with the front group in the championship or maybe we will go down and not catch them anymore so we need to be careful of this and, as I said before, to finish the races because that is the only way to take points.”

Alonso does not think that they can challenge Ferrari for wins at the present time and that they have to fight hard to keep up with BAR-Honda and Williams BMW:

“Only in Australia we were a little bit competitive compared with them but not even there. Then the last three races we were not even the second team on the grid, so we have to push a little bit more to catch and to close that gap and try to be in front of BAR and Williams, which is not easy at all, and, you know, we have a long season to go and we have good room to improve because, as I said before, the engine is completely new and we have many things to improve and we are in a good position I think.” He told the press.

Despite this Alonso is happy of the season so far an also of the reliability of his car and the possibility to score points in each race:

“I am happy. Obviously, the last three races were a little bit difficult for me, especially Malaysia and Bahrain because I started from the back of the grid, and then Imola I started in the normal position but the race was difficult, always in the traffic, not a very good start and I had to push a lot and fight a lot to get the fourth position. So at the end of the day I think the first four races were good for us, especially for the team. Both drivers have scored points in all the races, we are second in the constructors' championship and we are quite pleased with the season.” He concluded.