Fernando Alonso hopeful of scoring more points than Sebastian Vettel – Formula 1 news
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso is hopeful that he can score more points than his Red Bull rival Sebastian Vettel in the United States Grand Prix.
Alonso qualified at ninth position but was moved one place ahead due to Romain Grosjean’s penalty while Vettel secured the pole. However, he is not concerned.
“We [Ferrari] were seventh and ninth in Abu Dhabi and the car is more or less the same and we are seventh and ninth in Austin - it's not surprising for us, to be honest,” Alonso said. “We said yesterday that Red Bull will be one and two and we will be seventh
and eighth and people will be thinking it's all over. Then on Sunday we will show that we can score more points than Vettel - I don't know how exactly, but I have this feeling inside.”
The driver admitted that he had been off his usual pace throughout the qualifying and also that he made some mistakes. He told that he went off around turn nineteen which resulted in his tyres getting dirty. The dirty tyres hindered his race for the next
few corners. He appreciated his teammate, Felipe Massa, for having better pace than him in the final practice and the qualifiers. Massa will be starting the race from sixth position. Alonso is determined to bring back his pace during the race and make up for
his mistakes. He insisted that the overtaking on the new track will be fairly difficult.
Vettel taking the pole might not be the only disadvantage for the Ferrari driver. All the drivers in even numbered grid slots are complaining about the left side being too slippery which will cause problems in having a good start. Massa has also admitted
that the start will be slow for them in the left lane.
Meanwhile, Vettel has confessed that he is not focused on Alonso’s low grid position as he thinks that things can become unexpected. He believes, just like Alonso, that a driver can still race up to the front even if he started from the far back. Vettel
was referring to his own Abu Dhabi experience.
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