Fernando Alonso now under ‘real pressure’ in F1 title race

Martin Whitmarsh claims Fernando Alonso is now under “real pressure” in the race for the Formula 1 championship ahead of this weekend’s Korean Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver failed to score points for the second time in four races at last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix as defending world champion Sebastian Vettel slashed Alonso’s lead down to just four points with five races to go this year.

McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton is still 42 points behind Alonso, with Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen third and 37 points off the pace.

And McLaren team principal Whitmarsh believes the Spaniard is now under intense pressure as the race for the title heats up.

“Let’s be positive about it, that’s very much the case,” Whitmarsh said.

“I guess Fernando will be going home more unhappy than most I imagine, so he’s under some real pressure; more pressure frankly from Sebastian than from us, but I think nonetheless we have closed that gap and we’ve got five races to go.

“This is not the most sterling performance from us this weekend and in those situations you’ve got to go back, look what you’re doing on the car and make sure that we get it as good as we can in Korea.

“Both guys are capable of winning races and we’ve got five left to have a go at.”