Fernando Alonso says it will be a struggle to repeat his Monza victory of 12 months ago this weekend, explaining that Ferrari is lacking pace compared to ‘the best’ in Italy this weekend. The two-time Champion was the fifth fastest man on Friday, over half a second adrift of McLaren rival Lewis Hamilton’s fastest time in morning practice.
"Racing at Monza is always exciting, especially if you are a Ferrari driver," said Alonso. "The warmth of the fans is amazing and you can feel it. However, from a technical point of view, today was just a Friday like any other: we worked a lot on comparing different aerodynamic solutions as well as on evaluating different set-up choices on the car.
"Now we must put everything together and try and make the right choices. Honestly, I think we lack a bit of performance compared to the best, even if there are still the same unknowns relating to Fridays, especially those linked to fuel loads.
"However, we have to be realistic: the car is more or less the one we had in Spa, apart from specific updates to cope with the fact this track requires low aerodynamic downforce. Sure, it would be nice to repeat last year’s performance, but we know that will be very difficult. You can’t create a miracle in two weeks, but we will do our utmost to give the fans something to cheer about."
The Spaniard also took time to reflect on his position in the championship, admitting that stealing second place from Red Bull's Mark Webber is a very realistic prospect.
"What is my motivation like for this final part of the season? I am a very competitive person and I don’t like losing," he added. "It’s true, this year that’s happened quite often, but there are still targets that are within our grasp, for example, second place in the Drivers’ championship: Webber is not that far ahead."
Source: http://www.gpupdate.net