Jaime Alguersuari believes
Sebastian Vettel has more to lose than
Fernando Alonso as the F1 2012 title fight heads towards it conclusion.
The driver-turned-analyst was impressed with how Alonso and
Ferrari did in Abu Dhabi last weekend, and while he also hailed Vettel's 'eye-catching performance in climbing up from a pit-lane start to finish on the podium', he reckons the German is under more pressure given the Adrian Newey-designed
Red Bull RB8 is clearly the quicker car.
“In Abu Dhabi
Ferrari continued the good job they have done throughout the season. They made no mistakes on strategy or operation and Alonso yet again managed to finish the race in the best possible position,” Alguersuari wrote in his latest column for
BBC Sport. “Everyone knows he is not fighting with the best tools. He benefited from Vettel's penalty but it is amazing to see Alonso and the team working so flawlessly under such pressure.
“Alonso is 10 points behind Vettel in the championship going into the final two races of the season, which is a really small amount - the same as a fifth-place finish. The situation is not easy for either of them.
“Vettel knows his car is faster. Alonso knows he has to keep on playing his cards, doing his maximum and pressuring Vettel as best he can. If one makes a mistake and the other does not, that's the end for them. Anything can happen. It is a question of bringing the car home and not making any silly mistakes, scoring the maximum amount of points they can and each trying to cover the other.
“But one thing is sure - Vettel has more to lose than Alonso. He is leading and he has a quicker car.
“Vettel shouldn't lose it, but he could. All Alonso can do is win, because it already looks like he shouldn't.”
Meanwhile, Alguersuari paid homage to
Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus after the Enstone-based outfit took the victory.
“It is well deserved because Lotus have been so competitive for so much of the season and Raikkonen has been very consistent and getting better all the time as he gets more and more used to F1 after two years in rallying,” added the
BBC Radio 5 Live man.
“Once [Lewis] Hamilton retired, Raikkonen had the speed and he controlled the race perfectly under all conditions.
“He came under pressure from Fernando Alonso's
Ferrari in the closing laps but he managed it well.”