Ferrari, Fernando Alonso: “We won, but there is still a lot of work to do”

Fernando Alonso said his victory in the Malaysian GP "does not change the situation" and that Ferrari still faces a huge amount of work to be fully competitive under normal circumstances.

Alonso started from eighth position on the starting grid and managed to win the race by beating Sergio Perez's Sauber also thanks to the rain that fell in the early stages of the race.

While satisfied with the result, Alonso stressed that it does not mean that Ferrari has solved its problems.

“A big surprise today,” he said. “I think we were not competitive in Australia and not competitive here, and the aim was to score points, as many as possible, and today we got 25 – so an incredible achievement.”

“A fantastic result for the team who kept calm today in extreme conditions. Congratulations to the team, who deserve this victory.”

“This is a difficult time, but we will certainly remember this Sunday.”

Asked if the victory will give Ferrari new motivation, Alonso replied: “Yes, but it doesn't change anything, to be honest.”

“We are in a position we don't want to be. Fighting to get into Q3 and fighting to score some points. We want to fight for pole and victories, but in these first two races we found ourselves out of the right rhythm."

“The goal was not to lose too many points, and I didn't lose. This is positive news for these first two races, but now there is China, Bahrain and Barcelona where there are a lot of new things to come.”

“This victory will make us very happy in the next two days at the factory, but it does not change the determination to continue winning.”

Perez quickly closed the gap to Alonso in the final laps in dry conditions, and looked to be in a position to pass the Ferrari but made a small mistake. Alonso admitted that Ferrari is still too slow under normal circumstances.

“We weren't fast enough,” he said. “We were fortunate to hold our ground.”