Alonso confident of mounting a challenge in the Indy 500 despite poor qualifying

Fernando Alonso qualified 26th of 33 drivers for the 2020 Indianapolis 500 but the Spaniard remains confident he can hit the front on Sunday.

Alonso showed strong early pace during the delayed 'Month of May' event, but a crash on day two of practice slowed his progress considerably. This fact is clear for all to see with his disappointing qualifying performance.

The Spaniard ended final practice on Friday 23rd fastest but when asked by NBC is he was confident the car had the pace to make its way to the front of the order, he replied "Yes."

Continuing, Alonso added: “It was the last opportunity to test the last few items we had on our list. Some of them were OK, and some of them we will not be keeping for the race.

"Now we have a more or less clear idea of what we want.

"Sunday is a completely different thing, and it’s supposed to be a bit hotter, so we will try to adapt to the conditions. There’s nothing more to test on the table, so it’s race time.”

In IndyCar, there are two engine suppliers - Honda and Chevrolet. While Chevrolet has taken victory in the past two runnings of the Indy500, Honda has been on top so far this time around.

Speaking to Autoweek, Alonso admitted: "It’s difficult to judge from the outside, how different engine power outputs really are.

"It seems that on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday’s practice, there’s a mix of cars [at the front] and there’s not a big difference in race pace, and the last two years Chevy won.

"I think we should be okay. There are no concerns."

Explaining the lack of pace in qualifying, the Spaniard said: "This year, [drivers could run] higher boost for qualifying, maybe there were a few things missing, but it’s difficult to know from the outside."

Possibly reflecting his comments, Alonso's Arrow McLaren SP team-mate Pato O'Ward set the fastest time in final practice.

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