Alonso has a different edge over his rivals

Alonso would have sighed a heave of relief hearing the World Motor Sport Council's verdict of no further penalties for Ferrari with regard to the alleged team orders carried out at the German GP.

Though Ferrari and Alonso were confident that WMSC would consider their case, there were doubts that the council might take away all the points earned by team and drivers at the German GP.

However, with 141 points in total, he is still 41 points adrift from Lewis Hamilton, who leads the championship table at 182 points, and with only six more races to go.

Though there is a whopping 150 points to win, one cannot expect Alonso to win every GP from now on. Especially, when the car is still not on equal pace with the Red Bull.

However, Alonso has a different kind of advantage that none of his title rivals have, which is total and exclusive support from his team, and now, from his team-mate, Felipe Massa too.

Whether team orders or not at German GP, it is clear that Felipe Massa would be in the supporting role for the rest of the current season.

This also ensures that the team would be focussing entirely on Alonso and giving him the best possible technical / strategic help in his quest for the championship title.

With both, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel vowing to fight for the championship, their leading team-mates viz., Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber, have to deal with this aspect though.

It also restricts both the teams, McLaren and Red Bull, from putting their entire focus and backing their current leading driver, for the championship.

Ferrari can also use Felipe Massa to put a spanner in to his rival's race strategy, like slowing them down etc., on track, when in front.

Fernando Alonso would now hope that there are no further strategy error from Ferrari, like Spa, which saw him qualify behind top 5 grid position, and the technical upgrades keeps his car, if not on par, at least closer the Red Bulls.