Alonso Shines at Night

Renault’s Fernando Alonso scored a surprise success just when he most needed it, in one of the most eagerly anticipated Grand Prix in Formula One history, under the lights of Singapore on Sunday. And he owed much of it to team mate Nelson Piquet, whose crash on the 14th lap changed the face of the race.

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa led from pole position from McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari, and Alonso dropped way back when he was the first to stop as the result of an aggressive opening stint. Then Piquet had his shunt and out came the safety car. Fourth-placed Robert Kubica for BMW Sauber and Williams’ Nico Rosberg both pitted before the pit lane was officially opened, and when it was on the 17th lap, Massa’s race fell apart as he led Hamilton, Raikkonen, Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel and Toyota’s Timo Glock.

The green light within his cockpit told Massa he could restart, but the refuelling hose was still attached to his car. He knocked over a mechanic as the hose tore away, and fuel spewed everywhere. Subsequently he was given a drive-through penalty for another unsafe exit in front of the Force India of Adrian Sutil.

 

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Alonso - Not in the position to win this year Malaysian GP

Sepang F1 Circuit, it may be one of Fernando Alonso favourite track, but the two-time world champion thinks he will not be on the top spot of the podium in tomorrow race.

Fernando Alonso, the winner here last year, expressed his frustration after only managing the 14th fastest time of 1:37.328 in the afternoon practice session yesterday.

His rookie team-mate, Nelson Piquet Jr, was just behind on 1:37.331 and the indications are that the team have their work cut out for them ahead of the crucial qualifying session today.

Alonso conceded that Renault have a lot of catching up to do before they can even think about challenging McLaren, Ferrari and even BMW Sauber.

“I would like to have wheel-to-wheel racing with McLaren or Ferrari in a normal race. That is the target for the season. But we are too far behind at this point,” he said.

The 26-year-old bagged five points for a fourth-place finish in the season-opener in Melbourne last Sunday but attributed it more to the fact that only seven cars finished the 58-lap race than to the true measure of his car's pace.

Alonso and Piquet Jr both missed out on making the top 10 of the final qualifying session in the Australian GP. The Spaniard was 13th fastest while Piquet Jr was 19th on the starting grid and retired after a first-lap incident.

However, Alonso was optimistic that they would be more competitive as the season progresses.

“You are always optimistic at the start of the year. There are a lot of races to come, a lot of time. I really think we will close that gap and improve the car quite a lot.”

Alonso took his first pole position in his debut in Sepang in 2003. He went on to hand Renault their first Malaysian GP win in 2005 and repeated the feat last year for McLaren.

Other than the two race victories, his impressive resume in Sepang included two third-place finishes in 2003 and 2006.

Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2008/3/22/sports/20724697&sec=sports

Renault back on top of timesheet

Jerez Testing Day 2 - Part 1

Jerez Testing Day 2 - Part 2

Fernando Alonso made a triumphant return to the Renault team on Tuesday during the second day of testing at Jerez. Alonso clocked a lap of 1m 19.503s around the Spanish circuit, beating fellow Spaniard - and former McLaren team mate - Pedro de la Rosa by over a tenth of a second.

After Monday's mixed weather, much drier conditions greeted the teams on their arrival at the track and Alonso was able to cover 70 laps over the course of the day in the R27. It was the former world champion’s first opportunity to drive a car set up in accordance with the 2008 electronic regulations.

“The result of my first day in the car is encouraging,” he said. “I could not wait to drive again, but at the same time I was a bit tentative. I quickly settled back in to the team and everything went well.
"We made good progress throughout the day, but there is a lot still to do. I had to adapt at first to the car and get used to driving the car without traction control, but I am convinced that that soon I will be used to this and will not remember what is was like to drive with traction control.”

Unofficial Tuesday times from Jerez:

1. Fernando Alonso, Renault, 1:19.5032
2. Pedro de la Rosa, McLaren, 1:19.6503
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:19.7084
4. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:19.7725
5. Nico Rosberg, Williams, 1:19.7756
6. Heikki Kovalainen, McLaren, 1:19.7807
7. Sebastian Vettel, Toro Rosso, 1:20.3058
8. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso, 1:20.3469
9. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:20.39210
10. Kazuki Nakajima, Williams, 1:20.52511
11. Timo Glock, Toyota, 1:20.59812
12. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India, 1:20.76413
13. Kamui Kobayashi, Toyota, 1:22.060

Detail report: http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2008/1/7264.html