Alonso: “There are four beautiful races to come”

Fernando Alonso remained upbeat about his chances of securing a first world title with Ferrari on Sunday, despite losing his championship lead to race winner Sebastian Vettel. The German’s third consecutive win allowed him to open up a narrow margin for error going into the final four races of the season, a six-point lead over his Spanish rival, who came third in South Korea.

“Yes, he has overtaken me,” said Alonso after the race. “He has had three races in a row in which everything has gone perfectly for him, but it is only six points.”

Alonso, who qualified in fourth place, snatched a position at the start but was unable to catch the Red Bulls of Vettel and Mark Webber. Of the four races remaining, the US Grand Prix will likely be the most open, with none of the drivers familiar with the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Next up is India, which hosted its first Grand Prix last year, with Vettel victorious in New Delhi.

“We seem to extract the maximum from the car when we are under pressure and as I said, [there are] four beautiful races to come with good possibilities for us to fight for the championship,” Alonso said. “Now we need to score seven points more than Sebastian. That will be extremely tough but we believe we can do it.”

Vettel, meanwhile, was cautious about the momentum swing: “This is Formula 1 and anything can happen. If we have enough points at the end of the season, it won’t be necessary to make calculations.”