Fernando Alonso believes the competition in 2012 will be much closer than in 2011, a season dominated by Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel.
The German went on to win his second title with 11 wins, amassing 392 points, 122 more than his nearest rival, McLaren’s Jenson Button.
Alonso, speaking during a Santander press conference on Monday, spoke of Ferrari’s determination to start the season as a dominant force, but admitted the gap at the front would likely be much smaller than last season.
“Tasting wins and championships is something Ferrari is used to doing in the past decade and it’s something we want to do again. From the first mechanic to the last designer, I’ve seen an atmosphere of full focus and a huge desire to get a dominant car,” said the Spaniard.
“We know our rivals will be very strong and whoever wins next year’s championship will win it by a tenth or two in the car. There aren’t going to be huge gaps,” he added.
Despite his prediction, the 30-year-old admitted it would be nice to ‘feel what Red Bull has felt’ over the past two seasons with a dominant car.
“For the [2012] car we have taken some measures and used some innovations that probably wouldn’t have been used in previous years because of Ferrari’s more conservative approach. So all this makes us feel optimistic.
“At this point of the season we all think we have the best car ahead of next year. We have to wait until February when we put it on the track, to see the results and to see how fast it can go.
“What’s clear is that everybody in the team is very, very motivated ahead of next year. There’s an urge to gain the ground lost and get the feeling that Red Bull has had for the past two years.”
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