Fernando Alonso has explained that, as has been the case for much of the 2011 season, he was required to post qualifying-like laps on a constant basis to challenge Lewis Hamilton for the lead in Abu Dhabi. The Spaniard finished a highly respectful second for Ferrari, having attempted to steal victory from the Englishman.
“I was just doing qualifying laps every lap, trying to close the gap,” the Spaniard said after the race, having started fifth before passing both Mark Webber and Jenson Button on the opening lap.
“I closed the gap to two seconds, then had problems with traffic and lost two seconds - it all depended on which parts of track you caught people up on.”
He admits that 2012 is now at the centre of his mind.
“To be honest, I just want to have the last race and think of 2012 as soon as possible,” Alonso continued. “I don’t want to forget this year, because it has been quite good for the team and we have made some generally good improvements from last year, but we haven’t been able to fight for the championship.”
Further post-race feelings from Ferrari:
Massa describes Medium tyre struggle
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  L. Hamilton | McLaren | 1:37:11.886 |
| 2. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +8.457 |
| 3. | J. Button | McLaren | +25.881 |
| 4. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +35.784 |
| 5. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +50.578 |
| 6. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +52.317 |
| 7. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | +1:15.964 |
| 8. | A. Sutil | Force India | +1:17.122 |
| 9. | P. di Resta | Force India | +1:41.087 |
| 10. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | +1 Lap |
| Full results | |||
| Fernando Alonso | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| More Fernando Alonso photos | |||
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