Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso not surprised by 2011 Japanese GP Qualifiers results – Formula 1 news
Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso was not surprised by his Qualifiers’ result of the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday, October 8.
Alonso said that McLaren and Red Bull Racing team were faster as compared to them in the qualifying round. He added that he was not surprised by the lack of his car’s pace during the Q3 held on Saturday at the Suzuka circuit.
The Spaniard talked to the media and mentioned that they are not disappointed with Q3 results, as they finished their runs at least ahead of Red Bull’s Mark Webber at the Suzuka circuit in the end.
Alonso commented, “Tomorrow I expect significant tyre degradation to be a key feature of the race, with the possibility of several pit stops, which means strategy will play a very important role. We hope we won't have the same problems as in Singapore two
weeks ago.”
He went on to mention, “We will try and make the best choices and fight for a podium finish, which is a realistic target. The win is certainly less so: as we saw in qualifying, McLaren seem very close to Red Bull here.”
The Maranello-based outfit driver took part in the Japanese race weekend with an aim of taking a strong start. He ended his Free Practice 1 at the fourth place ahead of Webber, while in FP2 he came at the second position behind McLaren’s Jenson Button on
the Free Practice session 2 classifications.
The 30-year-old driver again put his team at the fourth place in the final Practice session of the Japanese Grand Prix.
He did not have a good time in the qualifying round at the Suzuka circuit. He finished his Q3 at the fifth position behind his teammate Felipe Massa, who ended up in the fourth spot.
In the Q3, Alonso was 0.420 seconds off the pace of Vettel, who secured a pole place for Sunday’s race.
Alonso is still looking forward to a successful raceday on Sunday, October 9 at the Suzuka racetrack following his fifth position in Qualifiers.
Let’s see how both of the Ferrari drivers Massa and Alonso manage their race at the Japanese racetrack following their fourth and fifth places respectively in the final Q3 classifications.
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