Interview with Renaults Fernando Alonso 03 Apr 2009
An under the weather Fernando Alonso was forced to restrict his running to 32 laps in Malaysia on Friday. But despite his painful ear infection, Alonso is optimistic that hell be fit enough to make it into Q3 during Sepang qualifying on Saturday
Q: Fernando, how are you feeling?
Fernando Alonso: I am not feeling so well, and have a temperature of around 38 degrees Celsius. I have an infection in my ear. So for today we have tried to do a minimum number of laps, so that I would not lose too much water and could avoid sweating as much as possible.
Q: Were you affected in terms of balance during practice?
FA: I have not had any problems with my balance so far. For me, the worst pain is always in the ear and in the teeth. So this infection is quite painful.
Q: What can you do to improve your condition?
FA: The team physios are looking after my health and are helping me to regain full strength hopefully until Sunday. In qualifying I might only be 90 percent fit - we will see.
Q: What was todays mission for the team then?
FA: We have tested some interesting things on the car today, especially with Nelsinhos (Nelson Piquet's) car. So I think we will be able to make a good step forward tomorrow. Now we just need to put the information from my car, and Nelsinhos, together and see where we are tomorrow. We had some very good pieces of information from todays practice.
Q: So do you think that Q3 might be possible?
FA: It has to be possible, it must be possible. If not, we have to be more than disappointed.
Q: What about the track?
FA: The track is getting better as more cars have gone out, as the grip is improving.
Q: Have you had to change your driving style to adapt to this year's new technical regulations?
FA: For me, I did not have to change a lot, as I personally think that the biggest difference was the switch to the slick tyres. These tyres have much more grip in the slow-speed corners, and so you need to carry more speed into these corners. Also this year we have much better traction, compared to last year with the grooved tyres. Especially during straight-line accelerations - we do not have spinning wheels any more. After a couple of days testing, you really forget how you drove last year and acclimatise yourself to the new conditions.
Q: Do you think that the new rules will increase the amount of overtaking?
FA: To be honest, I do not think so.