Fernando Alonso says he will aim to overtake Sergio Perez at the start of the Miami Grand Prix after qualifying on the front row.
Although Aston Martin struggled for speed in Miami, Alonso went second fastest on his first run, and when red flags were flown following Charles Leclerc’s crash, the Spaniard secured his spot on the front row.
“I don’t think we have to target a win,” Alonso told the press. “Even the podium will be difficult, but we’ll do our race we’ve been doing this the whole season we’re in a privileged position.
“We never expected to be here, so every lap we do tomorrow in this position is a gift at the moment. The team is enjoying [the moment].
“W will try to pass Checo into Turn 1 as we love to lead the race. Sunday is our day normally, the car takes care of the tyres, and we have very good race pace, and we’re strong on Saturday, so when start higher up normally, things are a little bit easier, but we have strong opposition behind.”
Alonso was on course to improve before Leclerc crash
Charles Leclerc’s accident at the end of Q3 meant several drivers lost out on improving their grid positions, including Max Verstappen, who will start ninth for Sunday’s race.
Although Alonso was one of the beneficiaries, the Spaniard believed on a fresh set of softs, he could have improved on his second run if it weren’t for the red flags.
“We’ve been experimenting a little bit with setup and different options on the car, and we put it together for qualifying,” said Alonso.
“The car felt good, and Q3 was stopped with the red flag at the end, so we don’t know the timed lap we could achieve I think there was a lot of pace in the car still, Q3 lap was done on the used tyre.
“Upto the yellow flag, I was a few tenths up on the lap before, so I think there was something more in the car, but we’ll take a front row [start], and we’ll see what we can do.”
