18/06/2023
NEWS STORY
Following the disappointment of Barcelona, Fernando Alonso feels he's in with a shot at victory in Canada.
The Spanish Grand Prix, his home race, saw the Aston Martin driver's run of podium finishes thwarted for only the second time this year.
Having qualified third for today's race, the Spaniard was already feeling confident, however, the subsequent grid penalty meted out to Nico Hulkenberg, not to mention the raft of upgrades to his car, has him eyeing a possible win.
Asked what step on the podium he is targeting, the Spaniard was in no doubt: "First!" he replied. "We will put some pressure on Max.
"I think he has been winning by 20 or 30 seconds every race," he continued, "so hopefully a little bit closer than that, force an error or maybe a bad pit stop or something. Red Bull can't do everything perfect, so maybe Sunday is the day.
"We didn't see any weaknesses," he said of the Red Bull. "This is outstanding what they are doing.
"We need to get better and learn from them. They are the best on basically everything, the pit stops, the starts, tyre warm-up, degradation, they have no weaknesses and Max has been driving outstanding all season. He's a tough competitor but it's a beautiful challenge."
At the start of the weekend, Verstappen heaped praise on the Spaniard, describing him as a "real racer" and "an animal".
"If you ask me one driver who I would like to see win a race, it's him," the Dutchman told reporters on Thursday.
"I like him," he added. "He never gave up and you can see he loves the sport. Sometimes, after so many years of only having a car that is capable of driving in the midfield, maybe you lose a bit of that love but he is a real racer. He is an animal."
Of course, a win for Alonso today might spoil Verstappen's winning streak but it would also allow him to target Red Bull's 100th victory at the next race... the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.