When Fernando Alonso raced for Ferrari from 2010 to 2014, he may not have been the Scuderia’s greatest driver of all time. However, he is undoubtedly one of Formula 1’s GOATs (even though statistics may not favor him too much). Despite his Ferrari days not being the highlight of his career, he’s been around long enough to know how the team works and how things usually turn out for them. So after Ferrari’s almost perfect day at Monza, the Spaniard decided to rain on his compatriot Carlos Sainz’s parade.

For the first time since the 2022 US GP, Carlos Sainz secured pole position, and he did it in Monza. During Ferrari’s home race weekend. In a Ferrari. You can imagine how pumped he must’ve been, how pumped the Tifosi must’ve been. Well, Alonso took the liberty to give all of them a reality check.

Fernando Alonso warns Carlos Sainz about the almost inevitable

Sainz has been on top of his game throughout the Italian GP weekend, and his hard work paid off during qualifying. Before qualifying, though—after being the fastest driver on Friday—he said this: “[Being fastest in FP2] does not mean that we will be in pole position tomorrow and that we will win the race on Sunday. Can fans dream? Dreaming costs nothing. Especially on these tracks, we can all dream, and nobody takes it away from us.” And dream they did, and Sainz ensured he fulfilled it.

Now that he’s ticked off securing pole position at Monza from his bucket list, Sainz would certainly be hoping to cross another entry in that list—the elusive Italian GP win. Alonso believes that might not be as easy as getting pole. As quoted by F1 Maximaal, Alonso said, “Being on pole here in Monza is perfect for them, but the race is only tomorrow.” [Translated by Google] This ominous warning served as the perfect reminder that Sainz has Max Verstappen right alongside him, and with how things have turned out this season, the result will more likely favor the Dutchman.

Alonso continued, “We have seen several times that Ferrari did well on Saturday and then could not celebrate the next day. Last year, they were on pole for 60% of the races with Charles Leclerc, but Max Verstappen still won almost all the races.” Although 60% was an exaggeration for the nine poles Leclerc got, it laid bare the facts—Red Bull is far superior in race pace (and Ferrari isn’t the best with strategies). Despite knowing this, Charles Leclerc has hatched a plan to overcome the Dutchman’s challenge.

Read More: “What a Day for Ferrari”: Despite Throwing In the Towel, Carlos Sainz Makes Tifosi Dreams Come True

Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc are ready to give it everything

In an interview on High Performance’s YouTube channel, Alonso discussed his time at Ferrari. He said,  “It was good. But you are so focused on the next race, on the next weekend. But it’s like I should have enjoyed [it] more. If I had the opportunity to live my exact life once more, I would change to live a little bit more in all those moments and try to have more memories from those moments.” While he didn’t enjoy his time at Ferrari as much as he should’ve, Sainz and Leclerc are making the most of it, especially considering they’re starting P1 and P3.

Even though there’s every chance Verstappen will win the race, they’re focusing on how to keep him behind and give Ferrari and the Tifosi what they’ve been dreaming of. After qualifying, Sainz said, Tomorrow, I’m going to give it everything to keep P1.” As quoted by F1 Maximaal, Leclerc revealed how Ferrari could make it a 1-2 finish on Sunday, “If we can overtake Max tomorrow at the start, then I can use the DRS behind Carlos on all straights and keep Max behind me. That would be the ideal scenario.”

After what Fernando Alosno said, who will come out on top: Carlos Sainz or Max Verstappen?

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