Alonso happy with possibilities

Fernando Alonso received a tow from team-mate Felipe Massa in Q3 © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Fernando Alonso says that his fourth place on the grid for the Italian Grand Prix opens up possibilities to finish on the podium.

Alonso won at Monza in 2010 but the Ferrari looked to be slightly off the pace this year as Sebastian Vettel took his tenth pole position of the season by half a second. Alonso admitted that he hadn't found the optimum balance with his car, but said that as a result he was happy to have secured fourth place on the grid to be in the hunt at the start of the race.

"It's good, obviously we didn't find the right balance or the right speed all weekend," Alonso told the BBC. "Yesterday we struggled a little bit with the balance of the car and the top speed. Today, we're still lacking a little bit of braking stability, a little bit of top speed on the straights. So we were never happy with the balance and that's the negative thing of the weekend so far because we don't have total confidence in the car.

"But the positive thing is the result. I think fourth opens up a big possibility for tomorrow because at the start you are in a very good position, you will be fighting for the first places for the first couple of laps. So I think it opens up a little bit of possibility of the podium tomorrow, which regarding how the weekend went so far is very good news."

Alonso also said that being sent out alongside team-mate Felipe Massa in Q3 was a deliberate ploy, but that all of the drivers jostle for the best position in order to get a tow during their flying laps.

"We know how important slipstreaming is in Monza so we both tried to find someone always. We were trying to find Felipe one so in the outlap both cars were slowing down trying to let someone pass. So it was a nice game, and a funny game from the outlaps between us, it was good and I think everyone gets the tow in the end in Q3 apart from the first one."

ESPNF1