Alonso: “A question of luck”

Fernando, what happened during the first free practice session when you stopped?
We keep this information to ourselves. There is no problem. That?s all I can say. In any case, it was planned to change the engine between the two sessions. We used a very, very old engine this morning. Within three laps, everything went according to our plans.

What do you think of the level of Ferrari and other teams this weekend?
Red Bull is still very competitive. It looks like it will be another solid weekend for them. But, maybe right behind them we can fight with the McLaren. For us, obviously, it is important to be as close as possible to Red Bull and try to fight for pole position as we did since Singapore.

But it?s also important for us to be in front of teams like Williams et Renault, which are sometimes competitive, like Suzuka. We must avoid and get ahead of these cars. I think that, generally speaking, we can be confident for this weekend.

What state of mind are you in, when you could secure a third World Champion title on Sunday?
For now, I'm relaxed because it's only Friday. But I would probably be more tense on Sunday. There is very little we can do because the speed of the car is what it is at the moment. Developments on the car are now minimal. Now all the cards are on the table. You just have to play them as best as possible. We will win or lose the championship, not because of the effort we put into the car or our abilities but it will be more a question of destiny or luck because very few points separate us from each other.