A replay of Fernando Alonso’s opening lap in the Malaysia Grand Prix went viral this week.
Starting from the back he weaved around the backmarkers, effortlessly picking off car after car with the blessed acceleration that he would have given his left leg for last season.
During the Thursday Drivers’ Press Conference the first question off the books revolved around Fernando’s incredible form on the opening laps.
In the last five races he’s made up 29 places, although this has largely followed heavy grid penalties for power unit changes.
So how has he done it – risk taking or instinct?
“Well I think it’s a little bit of everything probably, and a little bit of luck. Sometimes you try to recover places and you try to chose a line into turn 1 – left or right – and you never know what is going to happening in front of you,” he answered.
“Over probably 16 years in Formula One you recover many, many places so it cannot only be only luck every single year, but doing a lot of PlayStation [helps] also. Starting last is good practice.”
Honda have made significant improvements to their power units, giving Fernando improved reliability and horsepower compared to last year.
If the development curve continues to trend upwards it could easily be Fernando and rookie Stoffel Vandoorne leaving the mid-field in their wake and challenging Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes for podiums.
Alonso received an updated power unit with improved reliability in Sepang, which could give him a racing advantage over mid-field competitors, most of whom are now focusing on development for next year’s numerous regulation changes.
“We want to be more competitive next year. A bigger step has been done from last year to this year, but we need another bigger step for next year, which is going from the last Q3 spots and some points to fighting for some podiums and wins,” Alonso said.
“It’s a question of time before we are able to win. Hopefully that’s… we are trying to make it as short as possible.”
Even when he was pressed on the downturn of Ferrari’s fortunes, Alonso took a deep breath and deflected the question back into diplomatic waters.
“They are struggling a little bit now. But yeah, I wish always the best to Ferrari. I will have always Ferrari in my heart so hopefully they can improve,” responded Fernando, before adding with good nature, “But thanks for asking me. It’s been a long time that they didn’t ask me about Ferrari, especially after they won in Malaysia last year.”
As usual Fernando performed admirably, despite being in the uncomfortable position of representing a team that has failed to deliver the car that his talent deserves.
It’s just too bad Lewis Hamilton wasn’t present during the press conference to hear it.
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