Fernando Alonso says he’s confident he can outscore Sebastian Vettel during Sunday’s United States Grand Prix, despite the Red Bull man starting on pole.
The Spaniard will start several places lower in eighth after he struggled during qualifying, but was promoted a place due to Romain Grosjean’s gearbox penalty.
At present Alonso sits ten points off the championship lead, but he believes he can close that gap tomorrow.
“We knew it was going to be complicated,” he said. “We started seventh in Abu Dhabi and eighth here, so more or less the positions have been the same.
“As always, the race is tomorrow. I still think that tomorrow we are going to reduce the gap to Sebastian, which is what counts.
“He starts from pole and he has a very strong pace, but the race will be long and let’s see if we can seize our opportunities.”
Alonso must finish fourth or better if Vettel wins the race to remain in the game and says that the 25-year-old would ultimately deserve the title if wins here and in Brazil next weekend.
“We’ll see how the start goes. If he wins the race and then wins again in Brazil he will be champion and deservedly so.
“As I said, for whatever reason, I have the strange feeling that tomorrow we will reduce the gap.”
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