MONTREAL (Reuters) – Only 4 present Formula One drivers had been round final time Fernando Alonso began a race on the front row however, a decade on, the double-world champion was back with a bang on Saturday.
He certified second in Canada alongside Red Bull’s pole-sitter and championship chief Max Verstappen.
The Spaniard’s Alpine workforce mate Esteban Ocon was nonetheless removed from Formula One when Alonso, now practically 41, made his final look on the sharp finish with pole for Ferrari on the 2012 German Grand Prix.
The solely different drivers in that race nonetheless competing are seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastien Vettel.
A technology who grew up listening to what Alonso was able to noticed him roll back the years on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve the place he gained in 2006.
The hard-charging Spaniard has not forgotten what to do — assault.
“The aim is to guide the race,” mentioned Alonso. “Turn one most assault. It could be good and candy to guide the race.”
While Alonso flashed loads of bravado he was additionally practical that his possibilities of coming away with victory on Sunday had been slim.
His excellent qualifying effort got here on a wet windswept afternoon whereas the race is predicted to happen in dry circumstances that may favour high groups Red Bull and Ferrari.
“I’m not positive about out potentialities tomorrow, I might say realistically high 5 is what we must always battle for,” mentioned Alonso, whose finest outcomes this season are a pair of seventh place finishes at Monaco and Azerbaijan.
“We know our expectations…I feel the highest 4 locations are locked. So fifth is like a win for us and that’s in all probability the spot we must always take.
“To take into consideration wins is pretty unrealistic.”
If Alonso has one huge benefit it’s expertise of the difficult island circuit that has not hosted a race since 2019 as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.
“There is kerb using right here and it’s fairly bumpy, (these) are issues you already know after many, a few years,” mentioned Alonso. “I’ve been racing right here 16, 17 years and I all the time mentioned age and expertise is all the time a assist.”
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Montreal; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
