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BARCELONA, Spain - Fernando Alonso warned on Sunday that despite winning the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix Ferrari is still behind rivals Red Bull and Lotus in terms of sheer pace and performance.
The 31-year-old Spaniard, who won his two World titles with Renault, said he felt he was in his best position to take the title since joining Ferrari but the team still had a lot to do.
'NOT THE FASTEST'
"We should have won the championship in 2010 when we arrived in Abu Dhabi eight points ahead of Sebastian Vettel but we lost there and it's nothing we can change now. 2012 we didn't win - we were one second off, but we managed to fight until the Brazil race.
"For 2013 we have a package that is still not the fastest but we are working on it. We are not the quickest over a lap, we maybe do not set the fastest time in the race, but we have fantastic pit-stops, starts, tyre degradation... many ingredients to have a competitive car for the championship."
Team mate Felipe Massa finished third. He said he still felt bad after being penalised on Saturday (May 11) for blocking Mark Webber during qualifying.
Massa said: "I didn't cause any issues for him. I tried to be aggressive, passing people, and I tried to undercut people as well by stopping before them."
TAKING RISKS
Once up to third, Massa attempted to chase down Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) for second place before wearing out his tyres and having to settle for third.
"Maybe there was the opportunity to fight with Kimi but in the end it was a great race, we did a great job. My car was superb for this track and the degradation of the tyres was not like Lotus but we did the best we could do and we showed the performance we expected to have from Friday."
He saw no reason why Ferrari could not maintain its form. "I think it's an incredible direction. I hope from now on we are fighting for a podium for the all the races.
"We're pushing hard to improve the car in qualifying but we know we have a good car in the race."
Stay with Wheels24 for the 2013 Formula 1 season – fresh reports every day.
The 31-year-old Spaniard, who won his two World titles with Renault, said he felt he was in his best position to take the title since joining Ferrari but the team still had a lot to do.
'NOT THE FASTEST'
"We should have won the championship in 2010 when we arrived in Abu Dhabi eight points ahead of Sebastian Vettel but we lost there and it's nothing we can change now. 2012 we didn't win - we were one second off, but we managed to fight until the Brazil race.
"For 2013 we have a package that is still not the fastest but we are working on it. We are not the quickest over a lap, we maybe do not set the fastest time in the race, but we have fantastic pit-stops, starts, tyre degradation... many ingredients to have a competitive car for the championship."
Team mate Felipe Massa finished third. He said he still felt bad after being penalised on Saturday (May 11) for blocking Mark Webber during qualifying.
Massa said: "I didn't cause any issues for him. I tried to be aggressive, passing people, and I tried to undercut people as well by stopping before them."
TAKING RISKS
Once up to third, Massa attempted to chase down Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) for second place before wearing out his tyres and having to settle for third.
"Maybe there was the opportunity to fight with Kimi but in the end it was a great race, we did a great job. My car was superb for this track and the degradation of the tyres was not like Lotus but we did the best we could do and we showed the performance we expected to have from Friday."
He saw no reason why Ferrari could not maintain its form. "I think it's an incredible direction. I hope from now on we are fighting for a podium for the all the races.
"We're pushing hard to improve the car in qualifying but we know we have a good car in the race."
Stay with Wheels24 for the 2013 Formula 1 season – fresh reports every day.