Fernando Alonso has backtracked on his recent negative comments in which he claimed it is ‘not possible‘ to win the 2011 title.
The Spaniard came very close to winning the last race in Monaco, but a late red flag ruined any chance of him passing Sebastian Vettel who had to endure almost 60 laps on a set of soft tyres.
“We had a real chance of taking our first win of the season, and the interruption following the accident with [Vitaly] Petrov and [Jaime] Alguersuari robbed us of the chance of trying to the very end,” he wrote in his Ferrari blog.
He also changed his tune in regards to the title, adding: “Immediately after the race, I said the fight for the title was getting ever-more difficult, not to say impossible.
“Sure, if Vettel ends up winning a race in which we felt there was a chance of victory, then you get a feeling of disappointment, but that does not mean we will not continue working hard at the track and back home on developing the car.”
Despite an ever increasing gap between himself and the Red Bull driver in the championship table, Alonso says he won’t give up and has pencilled in Silverstone as the teams biggest test as to whether or not they can have a competitive season.
“Clearly, the gap in the championship is widening all the time. We can do the maths, but neither myself nor the team are used to throwing in the towel.
“I’ve been talking to the engineers about the new parts we will have in Montreal, but above all, of the steps forward we must take for Silverstone, when we will be back at a track which requires a lot of aerodynamic downforce,” he said. “That’s where we will really see how our season is going to pan out.”
