Alonso running light ??

Alonso managed to get pole at the Nurburgring today, just about getting ahead of Michael Schumacher by a mere 0.2 seconds.

However, it is likely that Alonso was running light on fuel to get that pole. If we look at how far down the grid the other Renault is, and even allowing for the fact that Fisi was held up by Villenueve, it is quite apparent that the Ferraris are more than a match for the Renault this weekend. Especially if you consider that both Ferraris were consistently quick throughout the weekend and finished 2-3 in the Qualifying.

Important in this context, are Alonso's comments to 'Gazzetta dello Sport' today morning :
"The risk of incidents in the first corner are reduced if you start right at the front," he said. "So far our strategies have worked well, but stupid things can happen". He said he wanted a fuel strategy geared to give him the quickest car after an hour of qualifying.

Also, F1 Racing has just carried an article which quotes Ross Brawn also predicting that Alonso is running light.

"I will be surprised tomorrow if they have more fuel on board than us based on all the times we've analysed since first practice," Brawn said after qualifying. "I think in the last few races they've carried too much fuel in qualifying and they've obviously changed their approach here."

However, Ferrari are renowned for their mindgames, and this could just be one of them. But it is quite clear that Ferrari have proved to be genuine challengers this weekend.