Alonso goes quietly
Fernando Alonso was philosophical about his five years at Ferrari ending with a whimper rather than a bang. The double world champion could only finish ninth in yesterday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Spaniard is yet to confirm where he is heading for 2015 but it was announced on Thursday he was departing the team to be replaced by Sebastian Vettel. “You want to be on the podium at least,” Alonso said. “I knew it would be tough. It summarises our season a little bit.” Alonso, who won 11 times for the team, finished sixth in the drivers’ championship, his worst finish in his time with the Italian marque. His 161 points was still more than three times the 55 teammate Kimi Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion, scored, as Ferrari completed their first winless season in F1 since 1993 and have not won a race in 18 months. Of his departure, Alonso, said: “It was a nice experience but I’m looking for better results than 10th.”
Force for good
A proud Vijay Mallya praised his Force India team after they finished the season on a high in Abu Dhabi. Nico Hulkenberg finished sixth and Sergio Perez seventh, earning the team 28 points in total thanks to the double points scoring system. A thrilled Mallya, the team principal of the English-based marque, said: “Everyone in the team performed superbly, from the team on the pit wall that devised a very effective strategy, to the pit crew who pulled off four good stops. Equally, the drivers were superb and Nico and Sergio didn’t put a wheel wrong on track. We battled with world champions today and we beat them fair and square – we finished with both cars ahead of the Ferraris and one Red Bull.”
Swiss procession
Patric Niederhauser led from start to finish to win yesterday’s final GP3 race of the season at Yas Marina Circuit. The Swiss driver took the lead at Turn 1 as he out-braked pole-sitter Nick Yelloly and dominated from there to pull away and win by 4.9 seconds. Yelloly was second with Alex Lynn, who had been crowned champion on Thursday, finishing off his season with a solid drive to third. Dean Stoneman, who had won Saturday’s race, was forced to retire on the second lap after his rear wing was damaged following contact with Alex Fontana.
Nasr set for Sauber
Felipe Nasr will compete in Formula One next season with Sauber and there was no winning end to life in GP2 for the Brazilian driver yesterday at Yas Marina Circuit. He had to be content with second place in the final race of the season for the main support series to F1, finishing 3.7 seconds behind Stefano Coletti. It was a disappointing day for Jolyon Palmer, who had already clinched the GP2 title before the weekend’s action in Abu Dhabi. The Briton, who is scheduled to test for Force India at next week’s two-day post-season F1 test at the venue, spun out on the opening lap at Turn 11. Stoffel Vandoorne, the reserve driver for McLaren-Mercedes, who had won Saturday’s feature race, was sixth yesterday, a result that ensured he beat Nasr to second in the points standings by three points.
Schumacher hope
Michael Schumacher’s manager Sabine Kehm said yesterday there is still no clear time frame for the F1 legend’s full recovery. “That is not possible to say in this situation,” Kehm told German broadcaster RTL. “Michael is making progress appropriate to the severity of his situation, but it will be a difficult and long process.” The German seven-time world champion received severe head injuries while skiing with his family last December in the French Alps and has been recovering from being in a coma at his home in Gland, Switzerland since June. Kehm again stressed that Schumacher’s family are grateful for the constant flood of well wishes from fans of the seven-time world champion. “I can only say again that the family is very happy and touched by the sympathetic messages,” said Kehm. “I believe that positive energy does them good. We appreciate the condolences from around the world.”
gcaygill@thenational.ae
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