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Fernando Alonso says Ferrari made the right strategic choices at the German GP

Spaniard says Ferrari didn't have the pace to challenge Red Bull and Lotus

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Fernando Alonso has defended the race strategy Ferrari used in the German Grand Prix even though he finished off the podium in Sunday's race.

The medium compound - seen as the race tyre - degraded more than anticipated while a safety car intervention helped move the race towards a three-stopper. According to Alonso, the hotter temperatures meant that the soft tyres "were working much better than expected. We expected graining very quickly in the first five or six laps but it was not the case. "We need to understand them better with the change of temperature because they seem to perform a little bit different every time." The race brought safety changes from Pirelli and the FIA in the wake of the blowouts suffered at the British GP and there had been talk of a driver boycott if there was a repeat of Silverstone. But according to Alonso, "the tyres were no problem in terms of safety. Only when Felipe had the problem in Turn 1, I didn't know if it was a tyre or not. "I radioed and asked if there was a problem with the tyres or the car because it was a little bit strange. But it was nothing with the tyre and they behaved well." Explaining his retirement, Massa said: "I braked at the end of the straight and I locked the rear wheels. The car went sideways to the right and then I corrected. And then it went sideways to the left and then I spun. "So then I stopped the car. I was in fifth gear; I tried to go down to first to go out and the gear was not going down. "So I was stuck in fifth gear. I tried to go out but the engine went down because it's difficult to leave in fifth gear."

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