"There's an overdose of optimism"

There are still three months to go before the new Formula 1 season gets underway, but Fernando Alonso is working non-stop. The Spanish Ferrari driver has spent the last few days at the team's factory in Maranello to prepare the car for next season - which starts on March 18 in Australia. Then on Monday he was in Madrid for a press conference with sponsor Santander, where he spoke of his feelings after two seasons at Ferrari, which have not been as successful as he would have liked.

"We can't be happy about last season," he said, in reference to his fourth place in the championship standings, and the team's third spot in the constructors' race. "We have a lot to improve."

But the former double world champion was optimistic about next year's battle. "I have seen a scale model of the new car, in the wind tunnel," he said. "We need to wait and to be cautious. I've seen an atmosphere of total concentration. I'm relatively calm in that sense, and confident because Ferrari has the ability to create a winning car."

But Alonso was keen to play down the expectations that, he said, were always high around this time of year. "There's an overdose of optimism every winter in Ferrari," he says. "Last year too there was a sensation that we couldn't be beaten, but that's dangerous. Within the team we are optimistic, but we know that whoever wins the championship is going to do so because they are one-tenth or two-tenths of a second faster - there aren't going to be any huge differences."

Alonso went on to say that the optimism about the year ahead stems from the changes that have taken place recently in the team. "People have been put in the correct places now," he explained. "We might have had a defender playing as a forward, and vice versa. What's more, there have been some changes made this year that in other years wouldn't have been made, given that they were too conservative."

The 30-year-old also gave a brief summary of his career as a driver, and admitted that in recent years he has lived a more relaxed life. His lack of championship wins - he took the title in 2005 and 2006 - and the success of other Spanish sports stars, such as Rafael Nadal and the national soccer team, have a lot to do with that.

"It's true that my presence in the media has fallen somewhat, fortunately," he said. "Life is more stressful when you have so much media attention. Now I have the pleasure of being at the pinnacle of my sport, but without so many problems."

He added that he considers himself to be a lucky driver, despite the fact that he has been clearly outclassed by Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel in the last two seasons. "This sport is cyclical, and Vettel has been very lucky to have a fast, competitive car, as has [McLaren's Lewis] Hamilton. I also feel very lucky to have two titles and to be in the team I want to be in. I wouldn't change anything about the last 10 years, I'd only swap with [seven-time world champion Michael] Schumacher. We'll see how many titles we each have in 10 years."

The most difficult question, however, came from HRT driver Pedro de la Rosa, a fellow Spaniard and veteran of the Formula 1 world. "When are you going to win again?" he asked. "Patience," came the reply. "I'm still very young," to which De la Rosa shot back: "Time is running out, my friend..."