Fernando Alonso has welcomed his second-place finish at the Japanese GP, saying the team will benefit from it in the long run.
The Spaniard started fifth on the grid at Suzuka, but an excellent strategy saw him move ahead of Sebastian Vettel into P2 during the pit stops. Alonso not only managed to hold off the Red Bull driver during the latter stages of the grand prix, but he also pushed race winner Jenson Button all the way.
The Italian outfit's tech gurus will no doubt be delighted with the result as they have indicated that they will do some experimenting for their 2012 challenger during the final few races.
"Congratulations to Sebastian," Alonso said in the post-race press conference.
"It was a fun race from the start, there was a lot of tyre degradation, we picked the right place to stop and we had the pace today to fight with Red Bull and McLaren.
"It's good for the team that we came back to a good level here. It means a lot for next year too."
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