Alonso expects twists and turns

Formula One:    Fernando Alonso says he "would not put any money on any driver" as the World Championship race moves into a …

Formula One:   Fernando Alonso says he "would not put any money on any driver" as the World Championship race moves into a vital phase.

Just a few days ago Alonso claimed Lewis Hamilton was favourite, simply based on the Briton's 12-point cushion heading into the weekend's European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

But after the 18th victory of his career and his third this year for McLaren, and with Hamilton out of the points, the picture has considerably changed.

So too has Alonso's opinion as he said: "When you win, and your main opponents for the championship finish second or third, the gap doesn't close enough.

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"With this win it is also 10 points from Kimi (Raikkonen) and Lewis, and two from Felipe (Massa). So I was happy for that.

"But the championship is very long, with seven races still to go, and every weekend is an unpredictable one. At the Nurburgring, Ferrari were very, very quick, quicker than us in normal track conditions.

"Suddenly you have a mechanical problem in Kimi's car, you have rain at the end, and McLaren wins the race. This is motor racing, so for the next seven races I would not put any money on any driver. Anyone can win because the races are a bit unpredictable.

"You never know what is going to happen. For instance in the next race in Hungary it could be completely the opposite. But we're still working in the same direction and we have the same approach.

"No doubt it will be tight at the end for all four drivers who are fighting, but step by step, hopefully I can make it. I will approach every race looking to do my best, and sometimes I will have a good result, sometimes not so good.

"Hopefully I can keep scoring more points than the leader."

Team boss Ron Dennis was undoubtedly thrilled with Alonso's win, with the Spaniard beating Massa in a wheel-to-wheel duel on lap 55.

"Fernando demonstrated why he is a double world champion," said Dennis. "He drove a fantastic race from beginning to end, keeping the car on the road when conditions were very bad.

"Towards the end he did a great job in catching and overtaking Massa, so for him and us, it was a wonderful race."