By role
May 13 2003

Alonso is looking forward to this weekend's Austrian GP. After 5 races for Renault Alonso has learnt quite a bit. He is confident that the team can show good performance at the engine-demanding Austrian track. Alonso is also very confident on his future:

"I am feeling very good and confident for the future: with every race, I get to know the team and the car a bit better. At my sixth race driving for Renault I feel I have learnt a lot as a driver. Today, I feel stronger when I come up against other drivers: last year, even if I drove thousands of kilometres as the team test driver, I was always alone, so there was never
any direct confrontation. These first few races have taught me a lot about pit-stops, the way tyre performance changes throughout the course of a race, and on how to manage your race. I think I am now becoming more and more capable of exploiting the car's potential."

He does not rate the circuit as one of his favourites, nor very demanding on the driver:

"In my view, this is the most straightforward F1 circuit there is. There are only six bends and it is very short compared to the others, so the gaps are always very tight. I like the circuit but I wouldn't say that it is my absolute favourite. On this track, the driver's skills are not as essential as they are at Suzuka, for example. We come to Austria with some good results behind us and I think we can do well. Zeltweg suits my driving style okay, even if the contribution I have to make here is less challenging than usual."