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ABU DHABI, Nov 1 - The spectre of 2010 is present as Ferrari's Fernando Alonso warms up for an Abu Dhabi Formula 1 GP that could once again make or break his hopes of a third Drivers' title.
In 2010, Alonso arrived for what was then the season-ending race for the championship leader. He left empty-handed after Ferrari made a strategic error and he spent half the race stuck behind Renault's Vitaly Petrov's with his dreams evaporating.
This time he is 13 points behind Red Bull's double World champion Sebastian Vettel who won his first title in Abu Dhabi in 2010.
AVOIDING 'BORING RACES'
Alonso believes he won't have a repeat of 2010: "Now, thanks to the kers (energy recovery system) plus DRS (the driver-activated rear wing), we improve a lot these situations... to avoid boring races or races where you cannot overtake at all in some kind of circuits.
"The systems are working very well and we saw a lot of action in the previous two years so I don't think we have any worry for this or the next races to repeat that situation.
Alonso remained confident, despite Vettel winning the previous four races in an apparently faster car, that he could still win the title.
Alonso said: "We trust in our job and our team," he said. "We don't give up and we will fight until the end. When things become stressful, when things become difficult, I think we can deliver 100%... the team has a lot of experience fighting for World championships."
He said it was crucial to be hot on Red Bull's wheels to be able to take advantage of mistakes and recognised that mechanical failure could strike anybody at any time. Red Bull, he observed, looked slightly more fragile than Ferrari with Mark Webber losing his kers at the Indian Grand Prix.
Alonso sad: "We need to find perfection this weekend, or these next three weekends, and be very close to them and attack all the race."
Ferrari, 91 points behind Red Bull in the Constructors' standings, will have some new parts to improve performance.
Stay with Wheels24 for the 2012 Abu Dhabi F1 GP weekend.
In 2010, Alonso arrived for what was then the season-ending race for the championship leader. He left empty-handed after Ferrari made a strategic error and he spent half the race stuck behind Renault's Vitaly Petrov's with his dreams evaporating.
This time he is 13 points behind Red Bull's double World champion Sebastian Vettel who won his first title in Abu Dhabi in 2010.
AVOIDING 'BORING RACES'
Alonso believes he won't have a repeat of 2010: "Now, thanks to the kers (energy recovery system) plus DRS (the driver-activated rear wing), we improve a lot these situations... to avoid boring races or races where you cannot overtake at all in some kind of circuits.
"The systems are working very well and we saw a lot of action in the previous two years so I don't think we have any worry for this or the next races to repeat that situation.
Alonso remained confident, despite Vettel winning the previous four races in an apparently faster car, that he could still win the title.
Alonso said: "We trust in our job and our team," he said. "We don't give up and we will fight until the end. When things become stressful, when things become difficult, I think we can deliver 100%... the team has a lot of experience fighting for World championships."
He said it was crucial to be hot on Red Bull's wheels to be able to take advantage of mistakes and recognised that mechanical failure could strike anybody at any time. Red Bull, he observed, looked slightly more fragile than Ferrari with Mark Webber losing his kers at the Indian Grand Prix.
Alonso sad: "We need to find perfection this weekend, or these next three weekends, and be very close to them and attack all the race."
Ferrari, 91 points behind Red Bull in the Constructors' standings, will have some new parts to improve performance.
Stay with Wheels24 for the 2012 Abu Dhabi F1 GP weekend.