After finishing a distant fifth one week ago in Germany, championship leader Fernando Alonso told reporters in Hungary on Thursday that he expects Renault to ‘struggle’ once again.
The 25-year-old title leader sounded bullish in an earlier official team release, but in the Hungaroring paddock turned pessimistic as he predicted a ‘difficult’ run against Ferrari and Michael Schumacher at least for the next three grands prix.
”We have not had time to react,” Spaniard Alonso said, ”we will be struggle here and also in Turkey because there are no tests.
”After that Monza is a good circuit for Ferrari at high speeds.”
His lead over Schumacher was reduced by a further six points at Hockenheim last Sunday, with tyre supplier Michelin and an outlawed ‘mass damper’ system copping the blame.
But Alonso was more upbeat about the calendar’s final swing, saying he would ‘put the money’ on him winning a second drivers’ title on the trot after the last three races of the season.
He explained: ”If Michael wins the remaining races he will be the champion for sure — he would deserve it.
”Let’s wait and see. For sure our gap is not enough to be champion. We need to beat them on the track and I think we can do it.”
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