Fernando Alonso has urged his Ferrari team to stay calm in the fight for the 2014 Formula 1 world championship, after a disappointing result in the Australian Grand Prix.
The double world champion won a close fight with Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India to finish fifth on the road in Melbourne last Sunday, but was promoted to fourth in the final classification when Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull was excluded from second spot for consistently exceeding the maximum 100kg/h fuel flow limit.
Alonso was disappointed to finish 35 seconds behind Nico Rosberg’s race-winning Mercedes, and he urged his team to work harder to make the F14 T more competitive for the coming races.
“It is just the first race so no one can say who will win the championship after just the first race or who will lose it,” said Alonso when asked whether he felt Ferrari could catch Mercedes.