Alonso: I don’t think we will beat Mercedes in the race

Alpine riders reached the final of qualifying in Suzuka with full steam. Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso set the fifth and seventh fastest times for the Mercedes drivers, but doubt they can keep Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in the race.

Esteban Ocon (5th): “I think the results of qualifying reflect the form of the team and our pace. We didn’t manage to have a clean weekend in Singapore, but the speed of the car shows that the novelties prepared for the final stage are working. Now it remains to bring the matter to a successful conclusion in the race.

We as a team are happy with how the weekend is going. I hope we will earn the necessary points in tomorrow’s race. From the very beginning of the season we have tried to impose a fight on Mercedes, but they keep the advantage. We have a lot of new products, so let’s see who will be our opponent tomorrow.

Pierre Gasly contract with Alpine? This is the most important news of the day! I’m focused on the current duties, but it’s great that he’s coming to us. We started racing in karting together and both dreamed of racing in Formula 1. Now we become partners in a team whose brand is from Normandy, and we are both also from Normandy. I think we’ll have a great story.”

Fernando Alonso (7th): “Great day for the team. We showed a good result in qualifying and took high places at the start, but it’s important to finish the race and earn points. It’s been a great weekend so far – we’re fast on wet and dry tracks and ready for any weather in the race.

I don’t think we can put a fight on Mercedes. This year there have been several times when we were more competitive than Mercedes on Saturday, but on Sunday they showed a faster pace. We have to keep calm, because tomorrow they will most likely be faster.”