Brazil GP: Alonso and Räikkönen battled at Interlagos
The end of the Brazilian Grand Prix in F1 saw the two Scuderia Ferrari drivers engage in an intense battle, which turned to Fernando Alonso's advantage.
The Ferrari Grand Prix was marked by the battle in the final laps between Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen, during which the Finn, on a two-stop strategy and with much more worn tires, held off the Spaniard before the latter overtook him.
The double world champion finished 6th, ahead of Räikkönen. After the race, when asked if his teammate’s resistance had cost him a better place, he replied: « No, I am very, very happy, no frustration. The most important thing wasn’t the battle with him, it was the battle with the other teams and we got good points for Ferrari today. »
« Even if I could have overtaken Kimi a bit faster, I had to save a lot of fuel in the final laps, so a fight with Sebastian [Vettel] would not have been possible, » he admitted to Autosport.
Alonso said he was happy to have taken the advantage: « Finishing ahead of him always gives me satisfaction. This weekend, I managed to finish ahead of him in qualifying and in the race after a weekend where I had some difficulties with mechanical issues. It was really a good experience: I had one more stop, so I had to make up 21 seconds. I had fresh tires, so I had the advantage in the last battle. »
On Kimi Räikkönen’s side, the fight was simply a normal fight: It’s the same points for the team and, at the end of this kind of season, it makes almost no difference for me or for the team because we score the same points.
