Fernando Alonso believes McLaren are competitive enough to make the top ten qualifying shoot-out on Saturday for the Brazilian Grand Prix, despite a troubling practice session on Friday.
Both Alonso and team-mate Jenson Button had to retire from second practice with problems, leaving Alonso to watch trackside before taking over an FOM camera, much to the entertainment of the fans in the grandstands.
Alonso says the issue is of no concern as he will have a new engine for qualifying and the race.
"We saw today that we seem to be a little bit more competitive here than at some of the previous races, and I believe there’s a chance for us to make it into Q3 tomorrow," he said, after finishing 11th quickest.
"In the second session, I had to stop the car due to the fact that we saw an anomaly in ERS water pressure data. We’re going to change the engine anyway for tomorrow, so this issue won’t affect me at all for the rest of my weekend."
The Spaniard is hopeful of some mixed conditions on Sunday – rain showers are currently forecast during on both Saturday and Sunday.
"With the high temperatures we had today, I think everyone suffered a lack of grip and degradation, but it looks like the weather is going to change, with some lower temperatures, cloud and rain. That would help us, as it would help reshuffle the deck a little," he added.
"Tomorrow we need to have a good qualifying session – that’s very important as overtaking around here can be quite difficult."
