• Spanish Grand Prix

Alonso not expecting to fight for win

Fernando Alonso thinks a podium would be the best result © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• Spanish Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Fernando Alonso

• Teams:
• Ferrari

Fernando Alonso says he is not expecting to be in a position to challenge for victory at his home grand prix after Red Bull dominated qualifying.

Despite qualifying a highly respectable fourth fastest behind Lewis Hamilton's McLaren, Alonso admitted he is unlikely to be able to match the pace of the Red Bulls.

"We knew the Red Bulls would be untouchable, so to be fourth is more or less what we expected," said Alonso. "As usual, tomorrow's race will be long and we must try and get the most out of what we have to work with.

"Something unexpected can always happen, as was the case for me this morning when I got a puncture coming out of the garage for my first run."

Although he does not expect to be competing for the race win, Alonso is still confident he can challenge for a podium position on race day.

"Tomorrow in the race hopefully the performance will be closer to the Red Bulls. We've had very strong race pace so we hope tomorrow to be a little bit closer. If you are two or three tenths behind you maybe can fight for victory, but if you are a second behind you can only expect to be not too far away. In normal conditions Red Bull is favourite for tomorrow.

"We arrive into the race with a lot of confidence, knowing that we can have some opportunities to be on the podium. We just need to take them."

Team-mate Felipe Massa endured a disappointing qualifying session after struggling for grip and will line up ninth on the grid.

"In qualifying I had a lot of trouble finding the right grip level, especially in the second and third sectors, which contain the slowest corners on the track: I felt as though I was rally driving, always understeering," added Massa.

"Maybe I didn't put together the best possible lap, but even so I don't think I would have been in the fight for the top places. The Red Bulls are much quicker than everyone else here and we will have to do our best to try and get a good finishing position."

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