Alonso confirms he will end his career at Ferrari

After a dominant lights to flag victory in yesterday’s Chinese GP, Fernando Alonso confirmed his focus is now on securing his fourth F1 drivers title and the manufacturers tile for Ferrari in 2013.

“This result shows that the car is competitive and that we are working in the right direction to always be in the fight for the podium,” said Alonso.

“With no one dominating the Championship, it makes it extremely interesting, even if we are aware this is only the third race. We are under no illusions and we must continue to concentrate and do all we can to improve still further”.

In a social media Q&A last week, Alonso spoke about the hardest moments in his racing career, his favourite F1 engine and the driver he’d most like to race against.

He was asked “Would you like to end your career at Ferrari?”, to which Alonso answered “Yes, that’s what I’m going to do. It’s the best team in the world, there’s nothing above Ferrari.”

We’ve picked out a selection of the most interesting questions below:

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@LukeWormald: Have you ever been afraid/scared while racing?

FA:  Yes. Sometimes, when it’s raining a lot and you’re racing behind someone…you have no visibility! In those moments, you have a sense of inevitable respect and concern.

@ally_cu: What’s the worst accident you’ve ever had?

FA:  Without a doubt my crash in Brazil in 2003. I was very lucky to come away unscathed from Interlagos, I didn’t even brake a bone. It was the biggest accident of my career. I remember there were loads of pieces of the car scattered on the track. I was unable to dodge a tyre and then the rest happened very quickly. After impacting the tyre, the car flew into the barriers on the left, then crossed the track and crashed into the wall on the right. I was a little bit groggy when I got out of the car and in pain but I knew nothing was broken. My only concern was calming down my family with a gesture reassuring that all was well.

@Ste_chan_ : If you could choose any driver from the past to race against who would you pick? And why?

FA:  I would pick Senna. He was the best.

@WhosCeejayReyes: Michael Schumacher or Ayrton Senna?

FA:  Ayrton, without a doubt.

@thanksfernando: Which #Ferrari do you prefer? #f60 #f150 #f2012 #f138? And which Ferrari of the past would you want to drive?

FA:  The F10 is the best car I have driven. If we’re talking about trying them out…I think that the Ferrari F2004 would be the chosen one.

@gordo_l: If you could choose a winning car from another F1 era, which one would you pick?

FA:  I would pick a Ferrari. The best cars which have won have mostly been Ferraris.

@ngtvk: What has changed the most from your first years in F1 to now?

FA:  There’s an area which has gained more and more importance: aerodynamics. The horsepower of the cars also…

@ChChCharli : Throughout your entire life and career, who have you most enjoyed racing against?

FA:  The best duels have always been in my karting races. Very, very fun..

@Paula_fanAlo: What virtue of Pedro, Marc Gené, Felipe Massa, Vettel, Hamilton and Kimi would you highlight?

FA:  They’re all drivers with great talent, who are capable of making the most of cars that aren’t quite perfect.

@jamie_wigg93: If you could include one circuit that isn’t currently on the F1 calendar, which would it be?

FA:  I would love to race at Mugello. I know the circuit well and it’s more than prepared, in every aspect, to be on the calendar.

@Pablo_I_Torrado: What’s the secret to being quick in the rain?

FA:  The secret?…Train a lot in karting! And that the sensations you get from the car give you the confidence to increase your speed every lap.

@z3n0mal4: How do you feel about next year’s engines? How’s the Ferrari engine looking so far?

FA:  The truth is I have no idea. I don’t think we’ll know much until January of 2014. They will be small engines, with less power.. quite a task for the technicians!

@Manurocks87: V10, V8 or V6 Turbo?

FA:  I choose V10.

@Joorgitoro: How do you know if the lap you’re doing is a good one?

FA:  We know thanks to some indicators on the steering wheel. They show you the time difference with regards to the quickest lap you’ve done until then. With every corner you take, you get an update on the new time you’re going to set, therefore you know how you’re doing throughout the entire lap..

@Ath0506: Do you believe you have a car that is able of winning races without a need for extraordinary performances like last year?

FA:  Any victory requires an extraordinary performance. Hopefully this year I’ll have the chance to win Grands Prix again.

@xisu_99: In Malaysia why did you think it was better to stay on track than come in for a pit-stop?

FA:  Once you’ve seen the result, in hindsight, it’s easy to say it would’ve been better to come in for a pit-stop. But it’s a decision that has to be made in a matter of seconds, during which we thought that I could hold on for another lap to make the most of the pit-stop and also switch to dry tyres. In any case, the race simulations state that if I would have stopped to change the nose, I would have finished ninth or tenth, so we didn’t lose anything. The problem wasn’t not coming in; the damage was done in the collision and it’s something that we will try to avoid in the future…;)

@davidgg92: What were you thinking when you were going down the straight at 300 km/h with the nose falling off?

FA:  I was thinking about not crashing into Webber. My front tyres weren’t in contact with the ground, I was going at 280 km/h and was running the risk of wiping Mark out, which would have been very dangerous. Luckily the car went straight on.

@MoleroPhoto: What was your hardest moment in F1? McLaren 2007, Minardi 2001 or Benetton 2002?

FA:  My hardest “moment” came in 2002, when I was the test driver at Renault. Occupying that test role and seeing the races from the outside, on TV, made it the hardest season by far.

@hanc0502: What is your biggest target in your F1 career?

FA:  Well when I started, I wanted to be World Champion and I’ve achieved that. Therefore when I retire I’ll be able to say: I did it.

Images and Q&A: Scuderia Ferrari