F1: Alonso – "Zero frustration" at Raikkonen

Fernando Alonso says he feels "zero frustration" toward Ferrari Formula 1 teammate Kimi Raikkonen after the Finn fought so hard to defend against him late in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Ferrari duo found themselves battling over sixth place at Interlagos, with Alonso behind on fresher tires after stopping one more time than Raikkonen. Raikkonen fought hard to defend his position though, and although Alonso made it through, he finished 10 seconds behind Sebastian Vettel in fifth. When asked post-race if Raikkonen's defending prevented him from finishing higher than sixth, Alonso said: "No, I'm very, very happy - zero frustration.

"The most important thing was not the battle with him, it was the battle with the other teams and we got some good points for Ferrari today. Even if I could have overtaken Kimi a little quicker I had to save a lot of fuel in the last couple of laps so a battle with Sebastian was never a possibility."

Alonso did, however, admit he was pleased to come out on top in the battle with Raikkonen.

"Finishing in front of him always gives satisfaction," he added. "This weekend I managed to finish in front in qualifying and in the race after a weekend where I struggled a bit with some mechanical issues.

"It was definitely a good experience - I had one more stop so I had to recover 21 seconds. I had fresh tires so I had the advantage in the last battle."

Raikkonen described the dice as "normal racing" and said that he did not feel the battle had cost Ferrari anything overall.

"It's the same points for the team, and at the end of this kind of season it makes no really big difference for myself or the team as we get the same points [whichever driver finishes ahead]."

Originally on Autosport.com