Fernando Alonso admits that he and Ferrari were flattered by leading at the start in Spain, and his eventual fifth place was rather more representative of the true form of the car.
Alonso jumped into the lead by the first corner and managed to stay ahead even after the first pit stops. Having lost the lead after his second stop on lap 19 he ended up being lapped by Vettel and Hamilton, having struggled badly on the hard tyres.
“We were missing some good starts this year and it finally came today,” said Alonso of his getaway. “And here with the long straight to Turn One you have the opportunity to take the slipstream as well. Basically we were out of position in a way, we were not quick in the weekend. We did a very good lap yesterday and we were fourth, and maybe it was a strange result, and today on lap one we were first.
“It was not our position so it looks a little bit sad when you start losing positions, but we need to understand that P1 was not our position.
“Fifth is unfortunately what we deserve this weekend, we were not competitive, especially in the race pace we were too slow, with the hard tyre even more. I think the first two cars they lapped until the fifth guy, so there are clearly two teams ahead of everybody at the moment. We need to change the situation. Monaco is so special that anything can happen, but in Canada we have to make a step forward.”
Adam Cooper F1 