Sparkling fruity fizz tasted as sweet as champagne for Fernando Alonso on Sunday after the Spaniard celebrated a triumphant Ferrari debut with his first win since 2008.
Even if a bottle of non-alcoholic bubbly is the victor’s reward in Bahrain, the double Formula One champion can expect to be spraying the real stuff around on a more regular basis from now on.
The Spaniard made only one appearance on the podium last season, a third place with Renault in Singapore, while Ferrari won just one race.
Together they celebrated their return to the top as championship contenders with a one-two finish that established them as early favourites in what has been billed as the most competitive season in years.
“It’s a very special day for me,” said Alonso, savouring for the first time a feeling that so many Ferrari drivers — including his Brazilian teammate Felipe Massa — have enjoyed over the decades.
“Coming back to the top of the podium is always special but I think it is even more special with Ferrari, with all the history behind the team and all the expectations a driver has when he drives for Ferrari,” he added.
“There is no better way to start the relationship. I am in the best team in the world,” added Alonso, whose Ferrari predecessor Kimi Raikkonen also won his first race for the Italian team in 2007.
“It will be very special and difficult to forget today.”
Engine worries
With Renault and McLaren, Alonso won 21 races but the 22nd was different — even if it was gifted to him by Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull suffering an engine problem after leading for more than two-thirds of the race.
Alonso also reaped the reward for overtaking Massa, who had started alongside Vettel on the front row, into the first corner.
Although Ferrari had changed the engines on both their cars before the race as a precaution, given the desert heat and long lap, Alonso said that even then he had been concerned about reliability.
“The last lap was very long … you want to avoid all the kerbs, all the strange noises, everything, so it was a very long lap but nothing,” he said.
“I was thinking about the great job that the team have done so far. I was thinking about the mechanics this morning, everybody running in the garage to change the engine at the last moment.
“So all that stress and all those difficulties that the team had this morning are paid off now and I was thinking just to celebrate with them. There was also some good chat on the radio in Italian.”
Despite the victory, and the celebratory jig as he stepped out of the car, Alonso was under no illusions about the year ahead of him.
“We have been a little bit better than the others in the first race, he said. “But I think the key to being world champion will be the development during the season. We have a very good base but we need to keep working.
“This is only the start.” – Reuters