Formula One news

Alonso surprised by his own pace

A jubilant Fernando Alonso said he was surprised by his own pace after a determined drive at Suzuka. Alonso worked his way up from fifth on the grid to second after the first round of pit stops. He then set about keeping race leader Schumacher honest.

"At the start I thought we weren't in good shape, but in fact we were competitive and as good as Ferrari pace and better than Toyota," Alonso said. "I overtook Jarno in the first turn and when I saw Ralf had problems I tried to pass him too. It worked fine and I was happy at that point, especially after the first pit stop the car was well balanced and working well."

"In the second stint the gap with Michael was about the same and I thought at that point it was possible to win the race - we were half way through the race and only five seconds behind," he went on. "It was a complete surprise for us. I've had so many problems in the last few races, lost a tyre in Hungary and an engine in Monza and I had to recover these problems."

Alonso went on to express his surprise at Michael Schumacher's engine failure - the German's first since the 2000 French Grand Prix.

"I didn't believe what I saw when Michael retired - to see a failure on a Ferrari is not something that happens often," he concluded.

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