Fernando Alonso is optimistic over Ferrari's chances of making a stronger start to the 2013 campaign, having endured a difficult approach to the season opener in Australia this year. The Spaniard, who is expecting Red Bull to lead the way again, hopes that team-mate Felipe Massa will be alongside him from the offset.
"Vettel is a worthy champion: he scored more points than anyone else and that is clear for all to see," said Alonso, easing the post-season tensions. "Red Bull will again be favourites next year, ending this season with seven or eight tenths in hand over us and that will be hard for us to make up over the winter. The McLaren was also quicker than us and, at the end, even Force India and Lotus were ahead of us.
"Having said that, I remain confident, partly because we will be starting from a better base than this year. It would be hard to start as badly as in 2012: in Jerez at the first test, we were two seconds and a half off the pace, in Australia one and a half seconds. There’s a lot of work to do but our objective is clear: to have two Ferraris ahead of the field, both on Saturday and Sunday."
Alonso added that it will be extremely difficult to top his performances from 2012, with the 31-year-old claiming three victories and a further ten podium finishes.
"Sometimes you think you’ve done a good job and at others you feel something is lacking or that you would like to change or improve for the following year, but this time, I think this was a perfect year and I am very happy with my season," Alonso went on to explain. "I think it will be almost impossible to do the same again in my career."
Alonso missed out on this year's world title by a slender margin of three points.
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