US GP: Ferrari's Fernando Alonso believes he can still win world title

Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso insisted he still had every chance of winning the world title despite Red Bull's stunning pace in US Grand Prix practice.
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, who leads Alonso by 10 points in the title race, was 0.757 seconds clear of the field.
Alonso, third behind Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber, said: "No surprises. They have the fastest package.
"But we put more pressure on them on Sundays. We will take our opportunities and fight every lap in the race."
Alonso was only 0.008secs slower than Webber in terms of outright pace and his fastest lap during his race-simulation run on heavy fuel was only 0.161secs slower than Vettel, who was 0.18secs behind pace-setter Lewis Hamilton.
Alonso said: "[Red Bull] are first and second in all the practice [sessions] and in qualifying, and if everything goes normal first and second in the race - but in the race sometimes everything is not going normal.
"We know their strong point is the speed of the package and our strong point is the united team, we try to use our strong points.
"The important thing is to score 11 more points than them in these [final] two races. We are still convinced we can do it.
"But we are not surprised when they are first and second in practice and qualifying."
Vettel can win the championship this weekend if results go his way, but Alonso believes he will keep the battle open to the final race in Brazil next weekend.
And while he said the team were optimistic that upgrades on their car had worked, he played down the significance of setting third fastest time on Friday.
"Starting third would be fantastic but we were third many Fridays and the McLarens, Lotus they seem to use the potential that on Friday maybe they hide.
"So it is possible we have a tough qualifying, but we were seventh and ninth in Abu Dhabi and we scored three points more than Vettel, and if we are better than seventh I think we can score even more points than him."
McLaren's Jenson Button, fifth fastest behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton, played down the significance of Vettel's huge margin over the rest of the competitors.
Asked if he was worried about it, Button said: "No because I don't think many people got a good lap in on low fuel. But the Red Bull's a quick car and Seb's very quick in it so they are going to be the people to beat in qualifying, but the gap isn't as big as it looks I don't think.
"They look very fast and it's not just their outright speed it's how easy they can get the tyres working.
"They can do a very quick lap on lap one and for us it's impossible, it's just the way the car works but I don't think there is going to be a second gap between us and Seb in qualifying. I think we'll be a lot closer."
Vettel, who lost half the second practice session while his mechanics fixed a water leak, also said little should be read into his advantage because of the newness of the circuit.
"Friday you need to be careful [of the times]," he said. "The fact that it was very slippery can make a bigger difference than you think.
"There were one or two surprises in terms of pace. It is important we are amongst the guys at the top and we [will] try to improve the car for tomorrow to make sure we stay there."
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With such races having the potential to be historic, only getting the highlights is such a shame.
Sky getting the F1 'silverware' is not only a shame, but a Travesty.
I agree that the BBC has completely lost the plot on sport, after the Sports Personality awards in December that is it! Finito, they have no horse racing, the Rugby, well England no, but Wales and Scotland and Ireland yes?
A farce,the winners are the sports and Sky who have out negotiated the BBC and made them look fools. Just what are we getting for our £146.50?
A lot of PC box ticks!
So how come everyones up in arms if LH puts a foot out of line but Whitmarsh escapes scrutiny whilst running a disaster of an underperforming team wasting millions of pounds spent on development with reliability issues no other team has apart from HRT.
Speaking of "wheels", the more observant would note that in all the on-board camera shots in SB's car, the steering was so easy to control compared to FA's or LH's.
The Red Bull car is so well planted on-track, with excellent downforce- I think thats why Seb's status as "one of F1 greats" is questioned.
Yep, it's over for Alonso. Little "Seb" will be the thoroughly undeserving WDC this season.
Mighty from Hamilton though! How did he get anywhere close to Vettel's Red Bull!? An eye-watering thought is how quick Hamilton would be in that Red Bull, with its superior downforce!
Rotten luck for Button though. McLaren can't even get both cars to perform well in the same race weekend.
Hamilton's junior record merited it. He has always been a stand-out talent. He then beat Alonso as a rookie in his first season and delivered a WDC in his second...all within his first 35 races.
And the McLaren/Ferrari were an even match in 07&08. Hamilton has never had SV's clear performance advantage. Even when the McL was quickest earlier this year...the team/car was unreliable.
Hamilton must be worried by the mediocrity of his 2013 team, and McLaren by the poor performances of their new 2013 driver.
You haven't answered my earlier question. If this year's Red Bull "is not the most reliable car on the grid," then what does that make this year's McLaren?
Also, don't ever put Vettel in the same bracket as Mansell and Prost! Vettel is in the Hill-Villeneuve class of winners in Newey-designs i.e good but made to look great with the best cars.
the bbc think they are gods, and as such are untouchable, but I think this god is about to be knocked off it's perch.
I guess that means he reads Benson's articles.
You can bet there will be no comment or article from the BBC about his sideswipe at them and the wider press.