Alonso: “I could have won the race”

Fernando Alonso is convinced that without the red flag in the final laps of the race he could have won the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver finished the race just 1,1 seconds behind race winner Sebastian Vettel, but he had much fresher tires than the Red Bull driver and had closed a gap of 7s in no time, between a safety car halfway through the race and the red flag on lap 72.

Each driver is allowed to fit new tires when the race restarts after a red flag, and so Alonso's advantage was wiped out. The Spaniard, however, believes that if this had not happened, he could have overtaken the German and won the race.

“I think we gained a position with the first safety car [overtaking Jenson Button for second place] and maybe lost the win with the red flag,” Alonso said.

“I really think that in the last eight or nine laps, the Red Bull's tires were worn out – certainly Sebastian was in crisis in the last part of the circuit.”

“I had nothing to lose. They are not leading the championship. I would have tried to win the race and if there had been an accident, we would have had an accident."

Alonso was nevertheless satisfied with his second place, which was the best result of the year for him and the Ferrari team.

He paid tribute to the team for bouncing back after a below-expected performance in Spain last week, a race in which Alonso led for the first 18 laps but then finished fourth, a lap behind winner Vettel.

“Third in Turkey and now second here, so it was a good weekend for us,” added Alonso. “We've been fast since Thursday and fast in qualifying, so good for us.”

“I'm very happy because the team needs this result and the podium after a few difficult weeks. Seven days ago in Barcelona we were 1m30s behind the leader, so this is a much more normal weekend for us and a good motivation for the guys.”

With today's result, Alonso is fifth in the World Championship. The Spanish driver is 74 points behind Vettel.