The battle for the runner-up spot behind Sebastian Vettel will go down to the season finale in Brazil, according to Fernando Alonso, who is keen to secure the position of ‘second-best’.
With his title ambitions for 2011 over – Jenson Button remains the only driver able to challenge Vettel – the Spaniard is concentrating on beating those around him in the final five races.
“Even if it’s true we are no longer even mathematically in the hunt for the Drivers’ title, there are still plenty of reasons to retain our motivation to tackle these last five races with the right attitude,” he told the Ferrari website.
“First of all there’s second place in the Drivers’ table. Given how the season has gone so far, with Vettel totally dominant, failing to get on the podium only once, being runner-up would really be a great result for me and for the team.
“There are four of us in the running, as I am up against [Mark] Webber and the two McLaren guys [Button and Lewis Hamilton] and I reckon we will have to wait until Interlagos to find out who it will go to.”
It’s the same story for the Constructors’ Championship. With McLaren now the only team able to stop Red Bull, Alonso says Ferrari’s aim is to stop them doing just that, so the Italian outfit can instead secure second.
Though he is under no illusions that such an achievement will be difficult to complete as they’re currently 85 points behind the Woking based team.
“Clearly, if one looks at the way recent races have gone, it will definitely not be easy, as my closest rivals seem to have that little bit extra in terms of car performance, but that does not mean it’s a lost cause.
“We know we have to do everything perfectly if we want to reach our goal and we will be trying right to the very end. Then, there’s still second place in the Constructors’ championship, but this is a much harder target, because there’s a significant gap to McLaren, but it’s not impossible.
“In the end, myself and all the team just want to end a season that did not go the way we wanted in the best way possible. Taking at least one win would be the maximum, while the important thing is to always be in the fight for the podium places.”
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