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Fernando Alonso believes that beating Sergio Perez for second place in the championship.
Contrary to his statements before, the Spanish driver was reluctant to admit targeting second place in the driver’s championship and stated that the team result in the championship mattered more.
Speaking to Sportskeeda earlier in the year, Fernando Alonso was quite confident of fighting for second place in the championship.
As he spoke to the media in Monza, he was cautiously optimistic. His radio call to his engineer after the Dutch GP targeted a potential win at some point in the season.
Asked by Sportskeeda ahead of the Italian GP how confident he was to clinch second place in the championship, Fernando Alonso replied:
“Me second.. It’s difficult, lets see race by race, I think 33 points behind Checo is a big gap. Specially because they started the weekend aiming for first and second, so its not they are dropping performance so we are getting closer or there are things that can put you in a place to fight."
He added:
"Let’s see, our aim is more in the constructor’s championship, trying to score points with both cars. Hopefully to keep Ferrari behind because I think they are getting stronger and stronger. And in the driver’s championship to be honest, the focus is bit more on Lewis than Checo.”
Answering the question, Fernando Alonso placed more importance on scoring second place in the constructor’s championship than the driver’s championship. The Spanish champion battling Lewis Hamilton is more of a focus than Sergio Perez.
Although 33 points divide the Spaniard and the Mexican, the Briton trails the double champion by 12 points. Earlier, the Aston Martin driver predicted the championship down to the wire as he spoke to Sportskeeda in a press conference.
Fernando Alonso feels Max Verstappen’s level of performance motivates him
Fernando Alonso almost chased Max Verstappen for the win at the Dutch GP but had to trail off and also faced pressure from Sergio Perez.
Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda in Monza, the Spanish champion felt the Dutchman and his team’s performance was motivating and set the benchmark for achievements for him and his team to achieve.
On the team’s performance at the Dutch weekend, the Aston Martin driver felt that they were well within their performance window to be able to produce a competitive result.
Asked if Red Bull and Verstappen’s dominance in Zandvoort was frustrating, Fernando Alonso said:
“No its a motivation to get to that level. I think in some weekends we are at their level. But in our window of performance I think like Zandvoort, Monaco, or Canada, I think the team has extracted 100 percent off the car with the perfect strategies, good pitstops, good starts, and I feel connected to the car as well."
He continued:
"So I’m driving extra percentage, I think Max is doing that more often. I think he is always doing that every weekend. And it is what we need to achieve in the future.”
Aston Martin upgraded their car with a new floor in Zandvoort, which instantly resulted in improved performance. Fernando Alonso finished the race second, while he was trailed by Pierre Gasly in third.
However, his Mexican rival for second place in the championship was demoted from third to fourth place due to a penalty for speeding in the pit lane. The demotion resulted in the 42-year-old being able to close the points gap in the championship.
