257 lines
7.3 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
257 lines
7.3 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
sport
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motorsport
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formulaone
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ferrari
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8131557
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# F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Fernando Alonso ignores talk of tainted title to
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focus on third crown
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## Fernando Alonso remained unmoved on Saturday night in the face of repeated
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accusations that he is on the verge of winning a tainted world championship.
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![F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Fernando Alonso ignores talk of tainted title to
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focus on third crown][1]
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Sunny outlook: Fernando Alonso is confident of clinching his third F1 world
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championship and his first with Ferrari Photo: ACTION IMAGES
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[![Tom Cary][2]][3]
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By [Tom Cary][4], F1 Correspondent in Abu Dhabi 8:18PM GMT 13 Nov 2010
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[Follow Tom Cary on Twitter][5]
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[Comments][6]
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The [**Ferrari**][7] driver begins Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix behind
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Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull and Lewis Hamilton's McLaren, but if the positions
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remain as they are the Spaniard will claim his third world crown by virtue of
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the seven points he won in such controversial circumstances at Hockenheim this
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summer.
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Asked outright whether he felt he would be a deserving champion were that to
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happen, Alonso did not hesitate. "Yes," he said.
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Asked to elaborate, the 29 year-old would only say: "There is enough talk
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about all that matter. We will just concentrate on the race for now."
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The knives are being sharpened out here but what a race we have in prospect.
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The Yas Marina Circuit produced a spectacularly dull grand prix on debut last
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year, when the championship was decided at the penultimate round in Brazil,
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but $1bn race track has a red-hot ticket on its hands this time around.
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## Related Articles
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* [Vettel: I'm not under pressure][8]
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13 Nov 2010
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* [F1 qualifying in pictures][9]
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13 Nov 2010
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* [Title race goes down to wire][10]
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11 Nov 2010
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* [Who will win the F1 title?][11]
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12 Nov 2010
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* [Alonso eyes place among greats][12]
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12 Nov 2010
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* [Ecclestone calm over 'orders'][13]
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12 Nov 2010
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Thousands of fans will brave the searing heat to watch the action from the
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grandstands; VIPs will quaff champagne on super yachts in the marina, or
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follow the action from the balconies of their luxury suites in the 500-room
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Yas Hotel, as the sun slowly sets on the 2010 season.
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What a denouement.
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Abu Dhabi's creation may be an obscene jewel, but it is undeniably impressive
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and the millions of viewers watching on television cannot fail but be blown
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away by the twin assault to their senses of an unprecedented four-way title
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battle allied to the world's most visually arresting race track.
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The championship looks like being Alonso's to lose after a riveting qualifying
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session on Saturday.
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As day turned to night in the desert, it was unclear right up until the final
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seconds of Q3 which of Red Bull, Ferrari or McLaren had the quickest car.
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It turned out Red Bull retained a slight edge, Vettel taking his 10th pole of
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the season and Red Bull's 15th in 19 races.
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In the final reckoning, however, Mark Webber's failure to keep up with his
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young team-mate handed the advantage to Alonso, the man who relieved him of
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the championship lead in Korea last month.
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Webber trailed in fifth quickest, not only two places behind Alonso -- who he
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must beat by nine points if he is to claim his maiden drivers' title -- but
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four places behind Vettel.
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The furious debate which has raged all week over whether the German might make
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way for the Australian, and whether or not that would constitute team orders,
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looks like being immaterial now.
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A downcast Webber said he was not giving up hope. "The fat lady hasn't sung
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yet," he said. "A lot of things can still happen in the race."
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True, but if anyone is going to deny Alonso it looks more like being Vettel.
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If the German wins on Sunday and Alonso drops to fifth or lower then the 23
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year-old will become the sport's youngest ever world champion, beating Lewis
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Hamilton's record by a matter of months.
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Understandably, Vettel tried to deflect the pressure.
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"It is not dependent on me," he said. "All I can do is maximise my performance
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and then others have to deliver. There is more pressure on Fernando and Mark."
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Hamilton also chose to play that card after claiming second place on the grid.
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The McLaren driver must win the race and hope all three of his rivals trip up,
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with Alonso failing to score completely, if he is to claim an unlikely
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championship. He said he was "chilled" and not putting any pressure on
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himself.
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"We had a great feeling - nothing to lose and everything to gain," Hamilton
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said of his performance.
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"I'm happy to be up there and this is the highest I have qualified for some
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time now, so it's good. Starting on the dirty side of the grid should not make
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too much difference."
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We will see about that. The start on Sunday afternoon will be unmissable, a
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10-second period in which the championship dreams of any of the four
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contenders could easily go up in smoke.
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But it is Alonso, the ultimate pragmatist, who holds the aces.
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"We will not win the championship in corner one. We can only lose it," the
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Spaniard said when asked whether he would try to make up places at the start.
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He may be on the verge of beating Ayrton Senna's record as the youngest driver
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to claim three world titles, but he clearly has no qualms about doing it in
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any more style than is absolutely necessary.
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Nor should he. It is just sad that a season full of twists and turns, which
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has remained alive right up to a final shootout in which four men could still
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triumph, should look like ending in recriminations over the role of team
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orders in the sport.
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Sad but sadly inevitable.
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No sport thrives on controversy like Formula One and the governing body's
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failure to deal adequately with Ferrari's actions at Hockenheim -- when the
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Italian team instructed Felipe Massa to give up race win for Alonso -- looks
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destined to come back and haunt it.
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[What are these?][15]
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* Share: [Share][14] [ ][16] [ ][17]
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[Tweet][18]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/ferrari/8131557/F1-Abu-
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Dhabi-Grand-Prix-Fernando-Alonso-ignores-talk-of-tainted-title-to-focus-on-
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third-crown.html
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Telegraph
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## [Ferrari][19]
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* ### [Sport »][20]
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* ### [Motorsport »][21]
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* ### [Formula One »][22]
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* ### [F1 News »][23]
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* ### [Tom Cary »][3]
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In sport
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[![Formula One, 2011: Team by Team guide: Red Bull][24] ][25]
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### [F1 2011: team-by-team guide][25]
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[![Ferrari F150 launched in Marinello: in pictures][26] ][27]
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### [Ferrari launches the F150][27]
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[![][28] ][29]
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### [F1 2011: full race schedule][29]
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[![Ferrari resolves F150 naming dispute with Ford][30] ][31]
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### [Ferrari resolves Ford dispute][31]
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[![Follow Telegraph Sport on Twitter][32]][33]
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### [Follow Telegraph Sport on Twitter][33]
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[X][14] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][15]
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Share:
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* [ ][14]
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* [ ][16]
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* [ ][17]
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* [Tweet][18]
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* FORMULA ONE ACTION PHOTOS
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Advertisement
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![][34]
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Please enable JavaScript to view the [comments powered by Disqus.][35] [blog
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