Fernando Alonso labelled 11th on the grid for Formula 1’s German Grand Prix as “like a small pole position” and believes McLaren can challenge for points in race trim.
McLaren has struggled for pace in qualifying compared to over a race distance, with Alonso having only made Q3 twice, but scored points in seven of the 10 Grands Prix.
Alonso accepted that he profited from the penalised Daniel Ricciardo not running and the absence of Lewis Hamilton, but reckons McLaren can make gains from one of its best grid spots of 2018.
GERMAN GRAND PRIX: Qualifying results | Photo gallery
“I’m very happy,” he said. “I think P11 is like a small pole position in the midfield group.
“We choose the tyres for tomorrow, we saw [some drivers have] blisters in practice, we’re very close to the points already, so the points are the target.
“We did struggle yesterday but we used FP1 and FP2 more as a test for performance runs, today were are more or less in the positions we were hoping.
“We had the benefit from Hamilton and Ricciardo, but it will be a close fight for points, and usually on Sunday we recover a little the pace.”
Alonso added that McLaren is “moving in the right direction” as it bids to improve on its current position of seventh in the Constructors’ Championship.
“The car is getting better; the new parts are definitely improving our performance but everyone else is making small steps every race so we keep more or less the same gap with our rivals,” he said.
“However, we are moving in the right direction and hopefully we can bring more and bigger upgrades to the next few races.”
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