VALENCIA, Spain // Fernando Alonso's surge to second place at the European Grand Prix yesterday means Abu Dhabi is now the only race on the calendar that the Spaniard has failed to collect a trophy. And he has his focus firmly on changing that at Yas Marina Circuit on November 13.
"I am very happy," said Alonso, after achieving Ferrari's best result of the season in front of his home fans at the Valencia Street Circuit. "This is a very special podium and the best podium of the year. At home I have trophies from all Formula One circuits I have raced apart from Abu Dhabi - and India where obviously we race this year.
"Now I can cross out here and hopefully I can get a podium in Abu Dhabi and India and complete all the trophies from the Formula One calendar."
Ferrari have endured a poor start to the season, but are showing signs of improvement and after beating Mark Webber of Red Bull Racing in a tight battle for second, Alonso said such is the expectations of both himself and the team, developing the car "will never stop until we reach first position in terms of performance".
"We all know that our Tifosi are expecting us to win," said Alonso, whose teammate, Felipe Massa, finished fifth.
"At the moment we are not in that position, but we are getting much closer. In the first three or four races of the championship, we were on average 1.5 seconds behind Red Bull in qualifying; now we are on average six or seven tenths, so we have closed the gap by half."
Stefano Domenicali, Alonso's team principal, echoed his driver's viewpoint, asserting "our only target has to be the victory - we are Ferrari after all".
Yet Alonso is realistic about his chances of chasing down Sebastian Vettel, who leads the 29 year old in the drivers' standings by 99 points. Yesterday he finished more than 10 seconds behind Red Bull's world champion and concedes his team are "a couple of months behind" their rivals in terms of car development after upgrade issues during winter testing.
"A the moment, I don't think we can consider the championship in a proper way," he said. "The distance now, with 99 points, is a lot, so it's not in our hands. We need to do it race by race, try to win races and wait for some mistakes from Red Bull."
SPECS
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Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
SEMI-FINAL
Monterrey 1
Funes Mori (14)
Liverpool 2
Keita (11), Firmino (90 1)
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The specs: 2018 Opel Mokka X
Price, as tested: Dh84,000
Engine: 1.4L, four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: Six-speed auto
Power: 142hp at 4,900rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 1,850rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L / 100km
Result
Crystal Palace 0 Manchester City 2
Man City: Jesus (39), David Silva (41)
The%20Last%20White%20Man
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
