Pole position looks like the magic ingredient to turn Fernando Alonso’s first race in Spain as a Ferrari driver into a truly happy homecoming this weekend.
More than any other track on the Formula One calendar, Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya rewards the driver who qualifies quickest.
The last nine races there, and 15 of the 19 since 1991, have been won from pole — bad news for anyone expecting more of the thrills served up since a somewhat soporific season-opener in Bahrain in March.
If Sunday’s race revives concern about the lack of overtaking, double world champion Alonso will do his best to give the locals plenty to cheer as well as revving up his title challenge.
SPECIAL
“Barcelona is always a very special race for me, I will try to make everyone happy in Spain. I know people will expect a lot from us but I think we are ready for the challenge and in Barcelona we should be very competitive,” he told the team’s Web site.
“Normally in Barcelona you need a car that is aerodynamically very well set up, there are a lot of very long corners,” Alonso said.
“Also you need historically to start at the front. Being in pole position gives you a very high possibility to win the race so we will try to start at the front,” he said.
Ferrari have not had a pole position since 2008 while Red Bull have maintained a stranglehold on the top slot this season with four in a row.
While nobody has won from pole so far this year, Barcelona could change that.
SHAKE-UP
The first European round of the season could see a shake-up in the pecking order, with teams introducing significant modifications and new packages now they are home from long-haul races in the Middle and Far East.
Alonso won in Bahrain and will have been boosted by the governing FIA allowing the Italian team to modify their engine, within the regulations, to overcome reliability problems.
“The balance of the first four races is good,” said Alonso, the only Spaniard to have won his home race. “We made some mistakes so we lost some points but overall I think we are in a very good position for the championship.”
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
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