Alonso aiming for the maximum

Renault's Fernando Alonso spoke to the press ahead of this weekend's race -- and revealed that the German rain clouds may complicate life a little...

Q: Fernando, we have eight races left, and your championship lead is 26 points. How do you view the next rounds?

Fernando Alonso.

Photo by xpb.cc.

Fernando Alonso: It is a bit like a stage on the Tour de France -- and each race is a mountain to climb! Every race is still important: we have the possibility to win, or lose, 20 points in the next ten days, and if I retired from both races, then the championship would be wide open. So we have to keep pushing, to attack all the races and achieve our maximum every weekend.

Q: How do you view the relative competitiveness of Renault and McLaren at the moment?

FA: At Renault, I think we were a bit down on our competitiveness in Monaco and the N?rburgring a few races ago, but this month, I have taken two pole positions, one win and one second place. So I think that shows we have improved the car a lot, and that we are competitive. I think McLaren still have the best package, they are still quicker than us, but we are fighting hard against the best teams. And with the break after Hungary, we have another good chance to make a step with our car.

Q: You say the McLaren is the faster car -- it sounds like you are admitting defeat...

FA: Not at all. McLaren have the best package at the moment, but in Formula 1, it is not just about having the fastest car. You need to get the right tyres, the strategy, the set-up -- you have to get everything right. And since Imola, Kimi has won three races, and I have won two. So I think we are doing a lot of things right at the moment.

Q: What about Kimi, your main rival -- you have known him for a long time...

FA: Yes, I have known him since 1997 or 1998 when we were racing together in karts in Italy. He was two years older than me, so we never competed in the same category, but there is a good respect between us. I don't see him much in the paddock, like I don't see the other drivers in F1, but we get on OK. He is a good guy to be fighting with in the championship.

Q: Finally, what will this weekend hold in Hockenheim?

FA: It is hard to say -- we have not always seen the circuits in line with our predictions so far this year, but we have been quick everywhere and that should not change. At the moment, the main thing is the weather -- the engineers are quite worried about the chance of rain, and that means we have two programmes prepared, one for wet conditions and one for the dry. If it rains for the race, that could make things interesting because nobody has done much wet testing -- so it will be a bit of a surprise for all of us I think!

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