Early days in the championship battleSome drivers might struggle to deal with the pressure of defending a championship in a still unfamiliar car in front of an expectant home crowd, but thankfully for McLaren Mercedes,
Fernando Alonso is not the kind of man that is easily
flustered.
The Spaniard insists he will enjoy Sunday's race at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya and the pressure that comes with being joint championship leader is, of course, nothing new for him.
"It is the third consecutive year that I come to Spain leading the championship," said Alonso. "So while it is something very special, it is the same as the previous years."
"It is normally the fourth or fifth race of the championship so it is difficult to get too much stress or nervous about the race because we are only at the beginning of the championship, this race is more for fun that the last four or five when you are more tense."
"I always feel very motivated and I feel a lot of people behind me try to support me and enjoy the race as there is only one of these feelings per year and it is always here in Barcelona so I am happy to race here."
It had been suggested that Alonso might be slightly resentful of the attention being paid to his rookie team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Not according to Alonso, who insists the pair, along with test driver Pedro de la Rosa, enjoy an excellent team spirit.
"We have a fantastic relationship between all three drivers, Pedro, Lewis and me, and we try to help the team as much as we can. I think that is the mentality of the team and the atmosphere we need to keep if we want to win. We will see, we have done only three races, but for sure it is good to have competition in the team as I have had in the last three or four years in the first few races."
Source AFP
