Alonso finished second behind Sergio Perez in Florida, matching his previous best performance of the year in Jeddah thanks to issues with Max Verstappen and red flags for reduced track action.
Asked about the prospect of victory, Alonso was keen to downplay his chances.
“I don’t think we have to aim for the win, especially after having a good weekend,” he said.
“I think even the podium is going to be difficult, but we’re going to race. We’ve been doing this all season and we’re in a good position, we never thought we’d be here.
“So, every lap that we do, every lap that we’re going to do tomorrow in these positions is a gift of the moment. So, I think the team is enjoying it.
“We’ll try to go into Turn 1 through Checo because we like to lead the race, at least for a few laps. After that, we’ll finally get the position we deserve.
“If it’s P5, it’s P5. If it’s P7, it’s P7. If it’s another podium, it’s great. But I think it’s going to be a tough race.”
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin F1 Team, after qualifying at Parc Ferme
Clark said the lack of information would also affect the race: “At the moment we really don’t know anything about the track because of the red flags.
“Nobody ran long distances yesterday. So it’s going to be a race where you have to make those decisions in the race, which makes it a lot of fun.”
He did concede, however, that Aston’s good tire degradation could be an advantage over rivals on Sunday.
“We can’t deny that we’ve had a strong car in all the previous events,” he said, “so that’s something we can rely on. But you still have to do it.
“It’s a long race and maybe other people have improved their cars. So we’re not necessarily going to be in a tight race.”
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Clarke, meanwhile, admitted the team made a mistake by not putting Lance Stroll on a second set of new tires in Q1, and hoped the Canadian would follow Alonso’s lead and pass a set, which he didn’t. arrive.
“There’s no need to take that risk,” he said. “I think as a team, there are some stats, some projections to let ourselves know what the deadline is.
“We’re not good enough in this thing. I think we might be a little bit greedy, trying to push forward and bring it into the third quarter to do another set on an extra set. But we’ve got to learn our lesson and the next Do it better this time.”
In the end, Alpine had something to celebrate this season. In Monaco, the French team took an equally well-deserved podium. Esteban Ocon has shown that the Alps have pace after all, and in a year in which chief executive Laurent Rossi has ramped up the pressure considerably. The latter demand immediate results. In Monaco, that wish came true.
Carlos Sainz still has a year-and-a-half remaining on his Ferrari contract, but the Spaniard is curious to see what the Italian team plans to do with him after that. Sainz spoke about this in a conversation with Sky Sports. So while he previously said he wasn’t worried about all the rumors surrounding him personally, he wanted clarification soon.
Last week it was Charles Leclerc’s turn and next weekend it was Carlos Sainz’s. Soon, both Ferrari drivers will be competing in their home races. The race in his hometown of Monaco didn’t go his way for Leclerc, with Sainz clearly hoping to please his fans with the best results.