“Weather-wise, it’s Sao Paulo,” shrugged Red
Bull’s Vettel, who ended the day second quickest, 0.274 sec behind
Hamilton. “It’s the same as if you go to Spa, you know, things can happen
quickly and the weather can change a lot here, so yeah, I spoke to some
locals and I think there was a big rain shower two days ago which wasn’t
expected.
“Probably for Saturday-Sunday there’s some rain on the way, but you don’t know
how much. I asked Pirelli yesterday if they have all the containers here
with the rain tyres, and that’s the case, so I don’t think we have to be
concerned.”
Ferrari’s
Alonso, who came home a further 0.292 sec back, was also phlegmatic
regarding the weather but he will be performing rain dances all weekend,
desperate for anything which could mix things up.
The situation for the Spaniard is more complicated. Alonso needs to finish on
the podium at the very least, and then hope that Vettel does not finish, or
at the very least finishes 14 points behind him.
Stranger things have happened, as Alonso is well aware. Two years ago, when
the title race went down to the wire in Abu Dhabi, he was in the same
position as Vettel is now, needing only to finish in the top four to be sure
of claiming the championship. He finished seventh, handing the German his
first title.
“I think these are different circumstances from Abu Dhabi,” Alonso said when
asked about the similarities. “Now we have DRS, KERS so it was a little bit
more difficult to pass then and maybe the rule was also introduced because
of that race.
“I think even if you find yourself at the back of the grid, you’re still able
to recover positions, as we saw in Abu Dhabi this year. Even if Seb started
last, he finished on the podium, so we will see what we have in mind, that
this is Formula One. Anything can happen until the chequered flag so we will
try to do the best race we can and cross the line on the podium which gives
us more than 13 points and see where Sebastian crosses the line.” It is
fascinatingly poised.
Some of the sport’s thunder was stolen here yesterday when Brazil’s national
football coach, Mano Menezes, was sacked abruptly, always an event of
national importance in this football-obsessed nation. Formula One need have
no worry; rain or no rain there is no chance of a washout this weekend.