Fernando Alonso refuses to be drawn into championship predictions despite taking a second successive grand prix win and moving into second in the championship behind Mark Webber.
Fernando Alonso has warned punters that there is still plenty of room for twists and turns as the F1 world championship winds through four further races towards its conclusion in Abu Dhabi.

Speaking after claiming a fourth win of the season, and the second in as many race, in Singapore, Alonso said that he expected to be in the hunt for further successes as the campaign headed towards its finale, but insisted that any one of the five drivers at the head of the point standings could still come out on top.

The Ferrari driver led from start to finish around the streets of Marina Bay, making the most of pole position - and an aggressive swerve towards front row partner Sebastian Vettel - to enjoy a largely clear track, and then benefiting from the Scuderia's decision to pit him on the same lap as his closest rival. Only a brief skirmish with traffic in the closing laps appeared to cause problems for Alonso, who had Vettel in closer attendance following a second safety car, but he held on to win by 0.2secs, vaulting himself into second place in the overall standings as a result.

Surprisingly, however, the Spaniard did not rate the race among the best he had driven, but admitted that it had been a crucial one when it came to his championship chances.

"I think I did some better races last year but, when you're eleventh, people don't worry too much about your race," he said, referring to the two troubled years at Renault which preceded his move to Maranello, "When you are in a Ferrari and you win a race, everyone is looking at you and supporting you.

"I think we always try to drive well, make no mistakes, be very precise, especially on this type of circuit, but today was teamwork, with good preparation yesterday, a good pit-stop, good strategy, good management of the tyres, brakes etc.. There are many factors to winning the Singapore Grand Prix and Ferrari did everything okay again, so thanks to the team."

Two races ago, after crashing out of the Belgian Grand Prix, Alonso's championship chances were being rated at something close to zero, but victories in Italy and Singapore highlight just how much things can change under the new point system, which offers 25 points - and a margin of seven - for reaching the top step of the podium. Equally, however, Alonso knows that any one of his four rivals - Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button could similarly benefit in the remaining four races, with the equivalent of just one win covering the leading quintet..

"When I said [before Monza] I had a 50 per cent chance of winning the title, it was yes or no, I can win or I cannot win," the Spaniard explained, "It depends on how things, and how the races, go. In fact, if we are five drivers, we each have around a 20 per cent chance, although maybe Mark has a little bit more because he's in front.

"We saw, in two races, I was very bad after Spa in terms of championship points, not any more for the title fight. People thought it was a very bad championship, with a lot of mistakes and, now, after two races, I am second in the championship, eleven points behind Mark.

"Anything can happen in these four races, any of us can win two or three consecutive races and put [ourselves] in a very good position, or you can have one or two retirements and you are completely out of it. So we need to keep our concentration, keep the focus. As I said, the chances for all of us are more or less the same. It will depend on how these four races go."

Having beaten pre-race favourite Red Bull on one of the tracks supposed to favour the Milton Keynes outfit, Alonso heads into the remaining four races with greater confidence, although he is quick to play down suggestions that Ferrari may now have the car to beat after winning on the diverse layouts at Monza and Marina Bay.

"I think some of them will suit our car a little bit better, some of them a little bit better for McLaren or Red Bull, but we need to get the maximum out of our car," he noted, "We know that sometimes we will be on pole, sometimes we will be third, but there's nothing we can do.

"We remain more or less confident after the Spa performance and the pace in the race here and qualifying yesterday, so we don't have any particular worries at any of the tracks, but we also know that there will be some weekends which will be very difficult for us with Red Bull very strong or McLaren.

"Having a championship that is ten months long, or nine months, doesn't happen in any other sport normally - even the football league is not that long. We are in a sport where you cannot be a hundred per cent, or you cannot be completely fit, focused, motivated one hundred per cent at all the races, every month, so we go up and down. But we can say that, now, in this part of the championship, I'm at a peak, one hundred per cent of motivation, concentration, etc, so it's good to arrive now.

"Sometimes, in September, I was getting tired, with all these long flights at the end of the championship, I was very stressed all championship long. This year, it is different. It feels like the championship starts now, so I feel very happy to go to Japan straight away."

Despite the optimism, however, Alonso repeats that it is still too early to put money on him landing a third world title.

"I think it remains very tight, and all five contenders still have the same possibilities," he warned, "Mark has a little bit more, with still some margin to have a bad weekend and not put the championship at risk. For the others, we need to keep catching if we can. We will do our best - we do not know if it will be enough to become champion in Abu Dhabi, but we will give 100 per cent. People can be sure we will fight until the end."
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Source:Alonso insists 'don't bet on me yet' | Page 1 | F1 News | Sep 2010 | Crash.Net