Alonso: No point in chasing 2018 success
Alonso: No point in chasing 2018 success
Fernando Alonso sees no reason to chase seventh place in the drivers' championship in the final races of his last Formula 1 season, saying it "means nothing" for him to be classed as the best of the rest behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull's drivers.
Alonso is 10th in the championship, with Sergio Perez, Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg locked on 53 points in seventh, eighth and ninth respectively.
With McLaren's form going backwards through 2018, the two-time world champion has only scored points in one of the last five races and he sees no reason to bend his back in an attempt to overhaul those near him.
"It means nothing to finish seventh in the championship," he said. "There is no point to have any plan for that.
"My only plan is to finish in the constructors' championship as high as possible with McLaren.
"We have now a strong position. We have maybe no hope to catch Renault and Haas, but the gap between us and Force India and Sauber is reducing every race because they are very strong now.
Day in Tokyo with @Toyota_Hybrid boys ???????????? pic.twitter.com/qNZ2VXnKqg — Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) October 10, 2018
"We will not let them catch us before Abu Dhabi, so that's my main focus. The drivers' championship, really not too interested."
Alonso says Sauber - last season's bottom team in the standings - have been able to close the gap as McLaren have barely developed their car through 2018.
"Feeling-wise, it feels good. The car it feels the same as last year. That's probably the problem," he said.
"The car is the same as last year, and 12 months later, the people make a lot of ground compared to us.
"I think we constantly see new parts to the midfield guys every weekend, because we see their cars, we see the pictures you guys take of the cars etc.
"We see always updates to everyone, and from probably Spain, we don't have any."
MORE: All-women racing series launched to find female F1 stars
MORE: Whiting defends FIA following Alonso criticism
Change your timezone:
Latest News
F1 star PENALISED following controversial Chinese GP incident
- 14 minutes ago
F1 Qualifying Results: Chinese Grand Prix 2024 times - 100th Red Bull pole as Hamilton crashes out in Q1
- 54 minutes ago
Hamilton suffers CATASTROPHIC F1 qualifying after early exit
- 1 hour ago
Chinese Grand Prix qualifying red flagged after unusual HIGH SPEED crash
- 1 hour ago
F1 Chinese Grand Prix weather forecast - latest today from Shanghai
- 2 hours ago
Chinese Grand Prix Sprint 2024 results: Final classification with penalties applied
- 2 hours ago
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860