Q & A with Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso: I will not comment too much about this, as the team said we will not comment. For me it's not even the time to think or to pay attention to this, because it's difficult to understand for me all this situation and this investigation. It's just another day, and I'm trying to prepare the Monza race and trying to get a good result here, so I'm fully concentrated on the job.

Q. Is it fair to say you are surprised by the event of the last few days?

FA: Yeah, of course. I'm very surprised. I cannot imagine this situation, so as I said, I'm surprised, and it's time to think in another job, in Monza and the next grand prix because I'm not spending any more time on this?

Q. Have you spoken to senior members of the team to ask for details about what happened?

FA: As I said, I will not spend the whole press conference commenting on Singapore, because there is not much to say from me. As I said, I was surprised, but the next step is to think of the next grand prix at Monza and after the hearing everything will be clarified and it will be the time to say something, but now it makes no sense.

Q. Did you know?

FA: No.

Q. Presumably you wouldn't like to be involved in a sport that's rigged?

FA: Of course.

Q. Does this have an impact on what happens with you next year?

FA: No. No change.

Q. When will we know about your plans for next year?

FA: I'm not sure. At the moment I'm fully concentrated on doing some good races with Renault, because the year has been not so great for us. In the last three or four grands prix we had some good performances and we never finished the race in a good position. So I'm totally concentrated on finalising the job on Sunday and score many points for the team. And then, for next year, we'll see in the future.

Q. Can you have a strong end to the season like last year?

FA: Hopefully yes. This year will be more difficult because I remember last year the team was pushing until the end. And this year the team decided to stop the development of the car two races ago, so we will have exactly the same car for the remaining races, so we know how quick we are and it will be difficult to have a magic step forward without any new parts in the car. It will be more difficult this year, but I think we can still have some podiums. We were very close in Hungary, close in Spa. I'm sure we will have more opportunism, but I know it's going to be more difficult than last year.

Q. Your boss and manager is in a difficult situation right now, would you like to say some generous words about him as a man, a man that you believe in?

FA: Of course, Flavio has been always a nice boss with me. He's a friend, he's a boss. He has supported my career since the times when I was in Minardi. I think Flavio is one of the good people here and he has all my support always.

Q. Would you like to offer similar words about Nelson?

FA: Yeah, of course. I had a good relationship with him. We were team-mates for one and a half years and I never had any problems with him. As I said in Valencia, he has a good talent to be in Formula 1. He was at Renault with not the most competitive car, so he missed a competitive car, but I'm sure Nelson can achieve good results in the future.

Q. Five races left, who's going to win the championship?

FA: It's very difficult to say. At the moment we see ups and downs from all the favourites. I still think that Jenson, with the advantage he has, is still favourite, but of course he needs to score points as well. In the last races he has not scored many points, but even so he is still leading by a nice gap, so I think he's still the favourite.

Q. What do you think of Fisichella at Ferrari?

FA: I think it's great for him. A great opportunity for an Italian driver in a Ferrari at Monza, so it will be an special grand prix for him. I'm very happy, because he's a good friend of mine and he deserves it.

Q. How do you think he will perform compared with Kimi?

FA: We'll see, it's difficult. Hopefully he can do well, hopefully better than Kimi. But it's going to be very difficult. The first grand prix, especially with the emotional part of being here in Italy will be more difficult for Giancarlo. But I think he can do well, and both Ferraris have Q3 cars in this race and that will make our life more difficult. But I think Kimi will be ahead of Giancarlo if everything goes as normal.

Q. You said Renault stopped development of the car two races ago. What's the reason for that, considering next year's rules are basically the same?

FA: I think that's a question for Renault. I think many teams have stopped, same as last year. When you are not fighting for the championship or for important things it's maybe a good thing to stop so you have time to prepare next year's car. I think it's a good thing what Renault did.

Q. Is your next deal important for you and for your future, because it will take you into your thirties?

FA: For sure next year will be important for me and my career. I will be 29 still. It's time to be in a position to fight for the championship in the next three or four years, not only one, so hopefully next year I can be one of the three or four guys fighting for the championship.

Q. Is it difficult for you to be in this position, not fighting for the title?

FA: It's difficult, yes, but I considered myself very lucky in the last five years. I won two championships and was one point behind the champion in 2007. It's only in 2008 and 2009 that I didn't have the chance to fight for the championship, so I have no complaints. It seems a lot, but it's not too much. I'm still convinced that next year can be a good opportunity for me and hopefully I can have a competitive car.