Fernando Alonso admits a points finish “would be a dream” as he prepares for possibly his final Formula 1 race on Sunday in Abu Dhabi.
The Spaniard made it 21-0 for the season versus McLaren teammate Stoffel Vandoorne in qualifying as a gutsy final lap in Q1 saw him avoid an early elimination.
Ultimately, 15th would be the best the double world champion could do but he admits expectations were not very high.
“It is the way it is,” Alonso conceded. “We have not been very competitive this weekend so we were quite pessimistic for our Q1 chances.
“We managed, somehow, to go to Q2 and we are happy for that.”
His outlook for the race isn’t much better but that isn’t stopping the 37-year-old from going all-out.
“Well, our first priority is to finish the race and see the chequered flag,” he said initially. “[I want to] execute the race good enough to feel proud.
“It is the last one and if we can be in the points then that would be a dream. We are five positions away so let’s see if there is some action in front of us in the first couple of corners.”
On what is likely his final Grand Prix weekend, however, Alonso is doing all he can to soak up the experience.
“I am usually quite shy so all these things going on over the weekend are quite touching,” he commented. “So far it has been, not a normal race, I have to say.
“But when I jump in the car and put the helmet on, visor down, you have some many things to think about. The engineer is talking to you, you are preparing the tyres, so you have no time to get emotional maybe.
“Outside the car, for sure there are a lot of things that are quite good.”