On Friday what time Ferrari misplaced equally two cars in qualifying Q1 session, Alonso drove an excellent race with a downshift issue, only to be sidelined by a blown engine when challenging Button on the second to last lap. The Spaniard therefore loses the championship lead to team-mate Felipe Massa. Following opening 19th, Alonso's improvement was slow in assessment to the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton even though the reason soon became clear to fans courtesy of on-board television coverage, which noticeably exposed a gearbox trouble. This was a very difficult weekend, said the Bahrain winner. We made a big mistake in yesterday's qualifying and today in the race I had to retire with an engine problem. My race was a climbing from the start. I found I had a problem with the gearbox right from the start and had to drive with no a clutch for practically the whole race. Trying to look on the constructive side, at least the engine breakdown only cost me two points - it would have been much worse if I had been in the lead.
With 39 points to Alonso's 37, a sum shared with today's winner Sebastian Vettel, Massa moves to the top of the Drivers' standings. All things considered, we did a good job in these first three races, as proved by the fact that we lead both championships, said the Brazilian. However, there are still sixteen races to go and we know there is much room for improvement in terms of car performance and in making it totally reliable."
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