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MONTE CARLO, Monaco - Red Bull sounds like a sore loser for complaining about Formula 1 tyres, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso suggested here on Wednesday.
The Spaniard, winner in China in April and Barcelona earlier in May 2013, told reporters ahead of the Monaco GP that it was up to that team to explain its comments - but he offered a theory of his own anyway.
"We know Barcelona was a good race for us and not so good for some of our competitors," he averred. "Some of those competitors claim to have a super car but the last three pole positions were for another car, when the tyres were new.
"It sometimes happens, when you win too easily for some years, it's difficult to lose some races after."
NOT RACING ANY MORE
Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel won the previous three championships and have won two of the five races so far in 2013. Vettel, the sport's youngest triple champion at 25, is only four points ahead of Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen with Alonso third and 17 points off the lead.
Red Bull's owner Dietrich Mateschitz was quoted after Barcelona, which saw a blizzard of pit stops and Vettel off the podium in fourth, as saying the Pirelli tyres were damaging the sport.
"Everybody knows what happens here," he said. "This has nothing to do with racing any more. This is a competition in tyre management. Real car-racing looks different.
"Under the given circumstances, we cannot get the best out of our car or our drivers. There is no more real qualifying and fighting for pole - everybody is just saving tyres for the race."
CONSIDERABLE BOOST
Mercedes took pole for the previous three races but has struggled to make its tyres last on Sundays and has yet to win in 2013. Ferrari has not won in Monaco since Michael Schumacher did so in 2001 but Alonso has won here for Renault and McLaren and could become the first driver to take three victories in the principality for three teams.
That on its own, Alonso believed, was a considerable boost for the weekend.
"Obviously we want to win the championship but Monaco is a special race. Monaco is the most important race in the championship. Everybody in any country has heard about the Monaco GP, the Indy 500 and Le Mans," he said. "It's many years since Ferrari won here. I can be the first to win for three different teams - a huge motivation."
He admitted Mercedes looked favourite for the race, if the team took a fourth consecutive pole, but Alonso said he could live with that if it proved to be an exception.
"If on pole maybe the team is favourite but we cannot forget our main target, the championship, and Vettel and Raikkonen are in front of us. If Mercedes has to win one race maybe, and this is the one, we just need to concentrate on finishing in front of the others."
Stay with Wheels24 for the 2013 Formula 1 season – fresh reports every day.
The Spaniard, winner in China in April and Barcelona earlier in May 2013, told reporters ahead of the Monaco GP that it was up to that team to explain its comments - but he offered a theory of his own anyway.
"We know Barcelona was a good race for us and not so good for some of our competitors," he averred. "Some of those competitors claim to have a super car but the last three pole positions were for another car, when the tyres were new.
"It sometimes happens, when you win too easily for some years, it's difficult to lose some races after."
NOT RACING ANY MORE
Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel won the previous three championships and have won two of the five races so far in 2013. Vettel, the sport's youngest triple champion at 25, is only four points ahead of Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen with Alonso third and 17 points off the lead.
Red Bull's owner Dietrich Mateschitz was quoted after Barcelona, which saw a blizzard of pit stops and Vettel off the podium in fourth, as saying the Pirelli tyres were damaging the sport.
"Everybody knows what happens here," he said. "This has nothing to do with racing any more. This is a competition in tyre management. Real car-racing looks different.
"Under the given circumstances, we cannot get the best out of our car or our drivers. There is no more real qualifying and fighting for pole - everybody is just saving tyres for the race."
CONSIDERABLE BOOST
Mercedes took pole for the previous three races but has struggled to make its tyres last on Sundays and has yet to win in 2013. Ferrari has not won in Monaco since Michael Schumacher did so in 2001 but Alonso has won here for Renault and McLaren and could become the first driver to take three victories in the principality for three teams.
That on its own, Alonso believed, was a considerable boost for the weekend.
"Obviously we want to win the championship but Monaco is a special race. Monaco is the most important race in the championship. Everybody in any country has heard about the Monaco GP, the Indy 500 and Le Mans," he said. "It's many years since Ferrari won here. I can be the first to win for three different teams - a huge motivation."
He admitted Mercedes looked favourite for the race, if the team took a fourth consecutive pole, but Alonso said he could live with that if it proved to be an exception.
"If on pole maybe the team is favourite but we cannot forget our main target, the championship, and Vettel and Raikkonen are in front of us. If Mercedes has to win one race maybe, and this is the one, we just need to concentrate on finishing in front of the others."
Stay with Wheels24 for the 2013 Formula 1 season – fresh reports every day.
