CHINA: MOTOR RACING - Fernando Alonso says he's surprised to be leading the Formula 1 standings after two races

Record ID: 872774

  • Title: CHINA: MOTOR RACING - Fernando Alonso says he's surprised to be leading the Formula 1 standings after two races
  • Date: 13th April 2012
  • Summary: (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) ALONSO WITH REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) FERRARI F1 DRIVER, FERNANDO ALONSO, SAYING: "It's definitely a surprise for us, I think. We had a difficult winter and we have not the performance out of the car at the moment as we expected, so we are working hard. And the first race was a good result for us, a good combination of factors, a good team effort and we are now in a good position in terms of points, but we know that it's going to be a tough race now for China." MORE OF INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (English) FERRARI F1 DRIVER, FERNANDO ALONSO, SAYING: "I think we should improve the dynamics of the car at the moment. So we are working on that. I know that in Italy they have been working very hard. And we see hopefully soon the results. But the other teams, they are improving as well their cars. So it's not that we are only doing that job. So it is going to be be difficult but we will try." CAMERAMEN VARIOUS OF ALONSO BEING PRESENTED A BOTTLE OF WINE
  • Embargoed: 28th April 2012 13:00
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  • Location: China
  • City:
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAA12ABMS1IPK36LT81AYMIG4YP
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  • Story Text: Ferrari's F1 driver Fernando Alonso on Thursday (April 12) said he was surprised to be leading the standings for the drivers' championship after two races in the season.
    Despite displaying all the brilliance that carried him to two world titles and with a winning drive in the previous rain-soaked Malaysian Grand Prix, Alonso said more tough races are to come for Ferrari.
    "It's definitely a surprise for us, I think. We had a difficult winter and we have not the performance out of the car at the moment as we expected, so we are working hard. And the first race was a good result for us, a good combination of factors, a good team effort and we are now in good in terms of points, but we know that it's going to be a tough race now for China," he told reporters at an event to promote a F1 racing simulator.
    Alonso's Ferrari has been seen to be lacking pace amongst the competition and under normal circumstances might struggle for a finish on the podium.
    He said engineers were working here to improve his car for the season.
    "I think we should improve the dynamics of the car at the moment. So we are working on that. I know that in Italy they've been working very hard. And we see hopefully soon the results. But the other teams, they are improving as well their cars. So it's not that we are only doing that job. So it's going to be difficult but we will try," he said.
    Alonso is leading the championship for the first time since 2010, when he went into the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as leader.
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