Fernando Alonso optimistic for Singapore

(Fernando Alonso on the 2012 Singapore podium)

It's an optimistic Fernando Alonso who arrived yesterday at Singapore . And he can ! Because in the last 5 editions of the GP he reached the podium by 4 times(including 2 victories) ! 

Fernando Alonso : "This is a very special race, without right to make mistakes but I love it though because I'm usually rather comfortable there . In 5 starts, I got 4 times on the podium so this year yet, I discuss this weekend in a positive state of mind and confident that I can again do well."
"It's a street circuit, the 'risk' factor is still very high. There is always the possibility of making a mistake, especially in the last sector with turns 18 and 19 passing under the grandstand . It's very easy to crash here with a small loss of concentration. This means the end of the race."
"The F1 calendar becomes more stressful now with all these races outside Europe. I well prepared myself during the summer holidays , on the fitness, in order to have a good end of Championship, without problem. All these changes in time zones are very demanding."
"The Singapore race adds to this a very important physical and mental requirement . This takes place during the night and even if it remains in European hours, your pace is still a little affected on a weekend ." 

Provisional F1 2014 season calendar

* this is the provisional calendar for the F1 2014 season :

-Bernie Ecclestone already claimed there will be 22 races with the arrival of the New Jersey GP .

-The South Korea GP has been removed to the start of the season to make a place for the Mexico GP at the end of the season . 

- 3(and maybe 4 new races if we take care of the New Jersey GP) : Mexico , Austria and Russia 

La Gazzetta de Ferrari

* It's done! Kimi Raikkonen will be back at Ferrari in 2014(his contrat will last 2 seasons)and will team up with Fernando Alonso. A duo that promises to make sparks on the track ! 

* Felipe Massa has several options for 2014 : going to Sauber(with the financial support of Ferrari)to replace Nico Hulkenberg ; going to Lotus or even have a steering wheel at Williams in place of Pastor Maldonado.

* Ferrari will no longer organize the Wroome event that was held annually early in January in the Italian mountains ! The main sponsor of this event, Marlboro can no longer ensure the financing of this event because of the financial crisis.

* James Allison took his duties as technical Director on September 1, he will ensure the management side chassis and aero while Pat Fry will take care of the engineering part.

* Fernando Alonso has bought the Spanish professional cycling team "Euskaltel Euskadi" which faced major financial difficulties. For 6 millions of euros, the Spanish rider bought the licence of this team that will now be based in Asturias and which should also change its name. Fiat and Vodafone could be the new main sponsors of this team which will revolve around Samuel Sánchez. 

Italy GP : Alonso & Massa Sunday quotes

Fernando Alonso: "get on the podium at Monza is always a special feeling because it is the only place where it is possible to feel all the love that fans have for the team and that is the greatest reward at the end of a weekend that was almost perfect.If I say almost is that our opponents in the Championship have won and we extend them our congratulations. We were well Friday and Saturday, able to get both cars in the top five but Red Bull did better than us.When Vettel returned to the pit we were still doing improvements to chronos on our sectors and so we decided to extend our relays as far as possible, at least as long as Webber was not becoming a threat.In this way, might try to reassemble on Vettel because our tyres were cooler a few laps but we tried to do our best and we have to be realistic about our chances in this Championship because it will not be easy to bridge the gap of 53 points in a few races. In F1 anything can happen so we believe everything in our chances until the end, to the Brazil GP , trying to always give us 100%."

Felipe Massa: "I am very satisfied with my race, which was fantastic from beginning to end thanks to a good start, I won two positions .My pace was good on both types of tyres and during the entire race. It's a shame to have lost a place in favour of Webber during our pit stops because the podium was within my reach and it would have been great to celebrate this moment with the fans here.The overruns were not easy because when you find yourself behind a car, you lose a lot of support and this is very delicate in the second sector.Overall, this is a very positive weekend for me and the team because we scored big points but we still have much work to do if we want to progress. For my part , I will do my best until the end of this Championship."

Italy GP : the race results

Italy GP : Alonso & Massa Saturday quotes

Fernando Alonso: "today the qualifications are better than in SPA and the car was competitive which allowed us to fight with the best. Of course, we weren't at the same level that the Red Bull who again are strong, but the race tomorrow will be long and we start from a good position.Here the strategy of aspiration is often used because having a car in three or four seconds before you to go a little faster and it is for this that I have to thank Massa especially in Q3 when he waited for me when I was behind Vergne. The radio messages poorly were understood, as it's often the case there are not the reflection of reality ! I said the word genius and this controversy should not raise doubts about the impeccable work of the entire team.Today we have been able to fight with rivals during all the qualifications and closer us than ever to the Red Bull, and there's not many cars between us and them because aside from Hulkenberg we are just behind.We need to move the Sauber in the first lap in order not to lose too much on Red Bull."

Felipe Massa: "I'm really happy with this result because compared to yesterday the car has improved and that makes me confident for the race.In Q3 I managed to do a great lap in the wake of Webber which was a great help for me even if I lost a bit of time at Ascari, I remain happy with my performance.We were aware that on a circuit like this it is very important to have the cars in the top four and tomorrow's race will be difficult. The weather is uncertain and we are ready to deal with all kinds of situations to get the full potential of the car.It be fantastic to get a good result in front of our fans at home who support us with so much affection." 

Italy GP : the grid