Alonso fears Renault qualifying pace will let him down...

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From Planetf1.com:

Alonso fears qualifying pace will let him down

03/05/04

Heading to Spain to compete in his home race, Fernando Alonso has warned his fans not to expect a repeat of his great 2003 result.

The Renault driver claimed second place at Barcelona last year after tussling with Michael Schumacher for the victory. It was the best finish of his F1 career at that stage, although he later topped it with a win at the Hungarian GP.

While Alonso would love nothing more than to repeat his 2003 result this season, or go one better and claim the victory at his home GP, the Spaniard does not foresee that happening.

"I know that expectations are high, but this is a new year, and we have a new car," Alonso told the Spanish media.

However, it's not Renault's race pace that is the concern. Instead it's their qualifying performance as "over one lap, we are just not there."

"In the race we have the consistency but we're really struggling in qualifying. To even be where we were (last year) the grip of the car has to improve a lot."

[nojvnof1 0]

Alonso should worry about keeping the car on the road in qualifying first, then worrying about the car itself. He seems to the one whose made the most mistakes in one lap qualifying.

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Alonso has made a few mistakes in qualifying but it appears that the Renault is genuinely not quick over a single lap – they seem to be very good over a race distance however. Further more, their engine is still underpowered and needs to be improved…

[AutoRacer5 0]

Being at his home track should be an advantage for Alonso.