Fernando Alonso has conceded that he had no chance at securing pole position in Singapore on Saturday after describing pole sitter Lewis Hamilton’s lap as “on another planet.”
“Today, pole position was absolutely out of our grasp: Hamilton was on another planet,” he said.
The Spaniard will start fifth, a position he hopes to improve on during the race to limit the damage in the drivers’ championship battle.
“We must settle for this fifth place but that doesn’t mean we are not hoping to improve on it tomorrow: our target is the podium,” admitted Alonso.
“The result pretty much matches what we expected after yesterday, given that right from the afternoon we were not particularly brilliant. The only surprise this evening was Maldonaldo and it was really unexpected to see him on the front row.”
The Ferrari driver expects tyres will play a key role in the outcome of the race.
“Here, the performance difference between the two compounds is probably the highest of the whole championship; between one and a half and two seconds, which could be an important factor tomorrow also.
“It’s true the softs can last longer but it’s also true that, with such a significant difference, the supersofts could also be an interesting option.”
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