Fernando Alonso might just have a crystal ball when it comes to his Red Bull counterpart Max Verstappen. Owing to the duo’s scintillating success this season, they have shared a podium in every race, bar Baku. And although their success has been written in the stars with strong cars beneath them, there might just be something bigger in play.
Magic Alonso spun some magic earlier this season at the Saudi Arabian GP. The Spaniard sat comfortably on the first row of the grid, beside Sergio Perez. Owing to a qualifying mishap, Verstappen was forced to settle for P19. It would have been a challenging charge to the front of the pack, had it not been for the Dutch Lion’s prowess and the beastly Red Bull.
Sounds awfully familiar? The incidents mirror the situation at the Miami GP, except now, Verstappen starts in P9.
Before the race, Alonso simply stated that he expects Verstappen to be in P2 by lap 25. And he did. Verstappen had also taken it up as a challenge, “Lap 25? Okay. I’ll try to do better.”
But Verstappen did not do more or less than 25, and now, there’s a new benchmark.
Fernando Alonso makes new Max Verstappen prophecy
Now, ahead of the Miami GP, the stars align once again, Alonso has looked into his crystal ball; the prediction is lap 25 once again. It might be a bit too late, considering P9 is a cakewalk for the Red Bull champ. But hey, who’s to question the great Alonso?
As a matter of fact, Verstappen aims for the second step of the rostrum anyway. Accepting his fate in qualifying, Verstappen said, “It’s going to be difficult. I made it difficult for myself, so I have to accept that. [I’m aiming for a] Minimum P2.”
On the other hand, Alonso could be in for his much-awaited 33rd victory in F1. A lion himself, the man is known for his first-lap magnificence and it wouldn’t be a long shot to say he could lead the race very quickly.
Yet, he remains skeptical of his chances. “I don’t think that we have to target a win, especially after how the weekend went.” Further, he even writes off a podium appearance with the Red Bull duo.
“I think even the podium is going to be difficult, but we do our race. We’ve been doing this the whole season, we are in a privileged position, we never expected to be here.”
Probably putting on a humble facade, surely Alonso has bigger plans in place. El Plan succumbs to no one. And Alonso? Well, he’s thirsty for the taste of the victor’s champagne. Surely we’ll see Verstappen and the hero in green clinking bottles in front of the Miami crowd. They wouldn’t settle for less.
