Formula One news

Alonso surprised by dominant win

Fernando Alonso says he is surprised by just how dominant he was in the Malaysian Grand Prix. Alonso took the lead from Felipe Massa on a dive down the inside of the first cornert and never looked back. He took his first win for McLaren and the sixteenth of his career.

"It's absolutely fantastic and it's a wonderful surprise what we have achieved in such a short time," Alonso said. "I remember the first test in December, only one day and then the new car in January, with the launch of the car in Valencia in the middle of January. A lot of work has been done inside the team, a lot of effort from everybody to be ready for the first race, but we never expected to be that competitive. It's something that is difficult to believe but we have to say big thanks to everybody."

"One of our chances to win the race was to be first after the first corner and thanks to a good start, thanks to the car, I was able to arrive side-by-side into the first corner," he added. "I was on the inside part so I managed to be first and to be sure, to have my team-mate second makes things easier, for sure, to open a gap."

Alonso's race was not without drama - in the first stint his radio failed and there was a momentary panic on the McLaren pit wall as team boss Ron Dennis tried to ensure Alonso knew he was expected in for refuelling.

"I didn't understand but from lap ten to the first stop I had no radio," Alonso explained. "Before the first stop I was lucky that I saw the pit board, I saw the arrow, so I came into the pits with some doubts, if the guys were there or not. Ron was telling me that the radio was off, obviously I knew already, but I think they adjusted something in the pit stop and then it worked OK for the rest of the race."

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