As the 2011 pre-season enters its final week, Fernando Alonso has stepped up his rhetoric and vowed revenge on new world champion Sebastian Vettel.
It is widely acknowledged that only a bad strategy blunder cost the Spaniard his third drivers’ crown in 2010, and Alonso’s new Ferrari is believed to again be Red Bull’s closest rival for honours this season.
"In 2011 I want a rematch of last year," Alonso told Germany’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
"I want the world title to be mine at the end of the year, and also in 2012, 2013 and every subsequent year. There is no other goal," he added.
Alonso admitted that losing the championship at the final hurdle in Abu Dhabi last November took "two or three days" to get over.
"But then we had to do the testing of the tyres and I was forced to go back to reality," he said.
And he backtracked on his recent claim that winning is not obligatory, even at the wheel of the famous red car.
When asked about the obligation to win for Ferrari, Alonso agreed: "It’s like an unwritten law. For Ferrari and for myself."
In another interview, with Italy’s Corriere della Sera, the bullish 29-year-old said Ferrari’s objective over the winter was to "come to Australia ahead of everyone".
"We are starting from a stronger position than last year," he admitted. "We will see if it is enough.
"I know how hard it is to win a world championship and I’m in the best place to try it."