Alonso Buoyed by Malaysia Race Pace

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was not too happy going into last weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix, as he felt his car lack speed as compared to rivals Red Bull and McLaren. However, following an enthusiastic race on Sunday, the 2-time world champion is more optimistic for the races to come, as his lap times in race trim were just as competitive as anyone's on the track, with the sole exception of reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel.

In fact, Ferrari's team principal had confirmed after the race that qualifying speed is the one chapter Ferrari really needs to work on these days in order to match the Red Bulls and the McLarens and attempt to started the race higher on the grid.

On Sunday however, despite another poor start, Alonso managed at one point to fight for 3rd place in the race, before clipping the back of Lewis Hamilton's car and ruining his perfect run for the podium.

“It was a fantastic day for us to see that we were able to fight with McLaren and to fight with [Mark] Webber as well,” said Alonso. “On Sunday we feel a little bit more confident and much more comfortable to drive the car.”

“We wear maybe a little bit less the tires than the others, so we can keep more consistent laps and here was a very good feeling. We did not expect to be fighting with them, so there is a very positive atmosphere now in the team after the race – and we can arrive in China much more happy.”

“In Australia we were not quick enough in qualifying, but in the race we were struggling a lot and were 40-50 seconds behind the leader. Here, I leave Sepang much happier because we were fighting with them,” he concluded.