“Red Bull in their own league”

Fernando Alonso believes Aston Martin is “unable” to beat Red Bull in Sunday’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. After his third place in qualifying and the grid penalty for Charles Leclerc, the Spaniard will start the race from the front row alongside pole setter Sergio Pérez. Alonso was 0.465 seconds short of pole time.

Despite the solid qualifying result, there is a consensus in the Formula 1 paddock that the Aston Martin is much stronger in race trim than it is for a quick lap and Alonso explains that overall long run pace and gentle tire management on the will perform better on Sunday.

“I don’t know [ob wir Pérez schlagen können] – I don’t think we’re in that position yet,” said Alonso. “In terms of raw pace, I think Red Bull are in a different league and I think we need to focus more on the teams behind them.”

Alonso expects a four-way battle for the podium

“Ferrari will be very strong, Mercedes are strong, Alpine too – they’re fast here. I think our race is just behind us. We saw today that Max was probably in his league in qualifying and he qualified with a mechanical problem could not end.”

“Even if we focus on ourselves and try to keep people behind us if something happens up front, we will try to seize the opportunity,” said Alonso. “I don’t want to sound pessimistic but when we see the pace in free practice and in Bahrain we have to be honest with ourselves and know that Red Bull are a little bit ahead of everyone.”

“It’s not the goal for tomorrow to fight for victory with Checo. But like I said, Formula 1 isn’t exact mathematics, anything can happen and today Verstappen was P15. Things like that happen sometimes.”

Team boss Krack: “Are not here to finish second”

Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack, on the other hand, emphasizes that once you have the opportunity to start from the front row, you will do anything to win. Not only was Aston Martin’s long run pace very good, Fernando Alonso’s strong starts are also feared in the field.

“I think if you start from the front row, you’re not driving for second place,” says Krack. “I would be very surprised if Fernando thought differently. Well, obviously the whole team is trying to do the best and we’re not here to finish second.”

Alonso: That has to come together for the win

Friday’s race simulations showed that Aston Martin is the closest Red Bull pursuer, while three teams are closely behind: Mercedes, Ferrari and Alpine. Alonso therefore expects Aston Martin’s rivals to have a close race on Sunday.

“I expect it to be a very close race and I think it will be determined by small details: one will be the start, one will be tire management. The other will be strategy and the last one will probably be luck.”

“Last year at Checo we saw that luck and a safety car can play a big factor here. I think that as a team we are ready to do everything in our hands. The car shines Works well on the long runs, it seems very tire friendly and we’ll try to maximize our strengths and hopefully get lucky.”

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