Fernando Alonso: “It will be a long and demanding race”
Back on the front line in Monaco, Fernando Alonso came very close to getting his first pole with Aston Martin.
Alonso had selected Monaco as the Grand Prix in which he could compete for victory with the Red Bulls. This qualifying session partly proved him right. Finishing second, just a few hundredths behind Max Verstappen, the Spaniard truly believed he had secured his 23rd career pole position. He is looking forward to tomorrow’s race to give it his all.
You never know what can happen in Monaco. A yellow flag, an accident… Even though it’s very tight, we should be happy. The tires hold up well, we’ll have to keep them up to temperature. The last sector penalizes us so we’ll have to analyze that. It will be a long and demanding race. We’ll have to be careful with everything, be very focused.
Even though he is full of hope, the Spaniard is realistic about his chances of victory against the Verstappen ogre who deprived him of pole position during his last attempt: « If we have a normal race, we can aim for the podium. Unless there is a technical issue or an accident for Max, the best position we can achieve will be second. »
The former Alpine driver also found amusement in the way the new F1 fans perceive his career: Some fans who discovered F1 through Netflix only saw me either fighting to reach Q3 or with smoke behind me. So, since this season, it must surprise them a little to see me fighting at the front.
Alonso will leave tomorrow on the front row in Monaco for the first time since 2007. That year, he had secured pole position before winning the race ahead of his McLaren teammate, Lewis Hamilton.
