As Martin Whitmarsh praised a ‘faultless’ performance for Lewis Hamilton in Abu Dhabi, the superlatives continued as Fernando Alonso’s drive to second place was labelled ‘extraordinary’ by Ferrari Team Principal Stefano Domenicali.
Ferrari has managed just a single victory from the 18 Grands Prix held so far this year, although Alonso’s result at Yas Marina signalled his tenth podium finish of the 2011 campaign. It also confirmed that, over the past seven years, the Champion of 2005 and 2006 has reached the rostrum of every race on the current calendar.
“We knew a podium was possible and that was confirmed this evening when, thanks to yet another extraordinary drive from Fernando, we were in the fight for the win right up until the final part of the race,” said Domenicali. “His first lap was exceptional, as was his race pace after that.
“Finally getting a driver onto the podium in this race is indeed cause for satisfaction. Now there’s one race to go and second place in the Drivers’ Championship is still up for grabs. That will be hard to achieve but it is definitely not impossible and we will do all we can to give Fernando the tools to achieve this.”
Sunday’s result also confirmed that Felipe Massa’s sixth place in the 2011 standings is all but confirmed; Nico Rosberg could still beat him to it, but only by notching up a maiden career win in Brazil next weekend.
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Stefano Domenicali
Fernando Alonso
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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 | |||
| Stefano Domenicali | |||
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| More Stefano Domenicali photos | |||
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