Q & A with Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso: Who knows. It is only two races into the championship so we need to wait and see what happens. For sure in these two races we had Ferrari and McLaren a little bit ahead of everybody but we still need to wait and see how the car develops during the season. Maybe some other team can fight for victory, or maybe Ferrari and McLaren can improve more than the others and have a more dominant position.

Q. How much does last weekend's victory raise expectations?

FA: I think not much. I think the people are quite cautious in what we have to do, and quite realistic. We did not confuse ourselves after the Malaysia result on Sunday. We will keep our feet on the ground. And knowing that what we saw in the winter, and what we saw in Australia, that it is quite possible we could see something similar here in Bahrain with Ferrari ahead of everybody. We know that. So even though last weekend was perfect for us, we still think that we need to do something more to catch them.

Q. Are you surprised by how poor Renault have been, or was that something you expected?

FA: Well, I did not expect it so much. In F1 you are up and down depending on how things are going. And for sure Renault, after winning two times the drivers' and constructors' championship, are at the moment going down. It is quite normal and it happens to everybody. It happens this year to them and they are not able to fight so much in front. Things are like this in F1.

Q. How much of a disadvantage for McLaren is it not to have so many testing possibilities during the season?

FA: Not much. I think to be honest, it is the same for everybody. With testing it affects everybody the same and you have to take into account more the numbers we get from the wind tunnel. We need to really believe in what we think is best and then put it on the car immediately without testing. That is how things will go this year. We need to trust the tools we have in the factory, and put the developments on the car at the weekend.

Q. Will it hurt Lewis more at the season goes on?

FA: Why?

Q. Because you have more experience in the car, you have more experience of F1. And the most experience he gets in the car, the more useful it is?

FA: Well, I don't think so. I think it will be the same for both. If we improve the car we will both take the advantage from that. And maybe even Lewis will test more in the simulator than me and have a better chance to test all the improvements.

Q. The test here before the start of the season was not good for McLaren but since then the car has changed a lot. Do you think that will really show this weekend?

FA: Let's hope so! We still have some doubts, because in the tests here we saw we were struggling a little with BMW and Renault. And Ferrari for sure were in front of everybody. But we have made some improvements to the car (since then) and this weekend we will see the results. I think we should be more competitive than at the test.

Q. In Malaysia Felipe Massa was the quickest Ferrari driver. Do you think he can maintain that this weekend?

FA: I think it will be interesting to see what happens to the Ferrari drivers. We saw that Felipe was very quick in the last part of the winter testing, and especially here in Bahrain, setting the fastest time. Kimi was not so quick (in testing), but in the last two races when the championship has started, Kimi was scored 16 points and is a very strong driver for the championship.

Q. Have you seen or heard anything about the duel between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa in Malaysia?

FA: Well, I saw one replay of the overtaking manoeuvre that Massa did and then went off. But that is all I saw.

Q. Are you impressed by Lewis' ability to stay calm and cool?

FA: Yes, for sure. He is doing a great job, as everybody saw. He kept the pressure and he kept the Ferraris behind, which were lighter for sure, behind me. And thanks to him keeping them behind we were first and second.

Q. Does it worry you that you have a teammate like that?

FA: At the moment it is not so much of a worry.

Q. Giancarlo Fisichella believes you are a lucky guy, moving to McLaren at just the right time. Do you think it is just a question of luck?

FA: I don't know. I think I have been lucky all my career, so I still think I am lucky! I hope I keep the luck with me for many years. Last year McLaren were not so competitive so I felt I could have a tough time when I came here. There are always doubts in the winter, so maybe it is lucky or maybe it is just a good job from everybody in the team to win a race in such a short time.

I have been working as hard as I have never done. From December until now I've tried to be with the engineers, try to understand as much as I can about the car, the approach to the races with McLaren. I think we made big changes to the car as well, with some areas that we were underperforming. And between everybody we improved a little bit the car, but the gain is to the job the designers did with the new car.

Q. Are you enjoying F1 again?

FA: Yes, I enjoy it more now, for sure. That is one of the reasons I swapped teams. To have a motivation, and a fresh approach again to the races. I like the races now, I like to be in the car every day.