Alonso isn't hoping for a miracle, but for crashes in the opening corners.

      As a result of qualifying, Fernando Alonso will start the Mexican Grand Prix from 14th position, his Aston Martin lining up on the even side of the grid behind the Williams of fellow Spaniard Carlos Sainz, who dropped five places on the grid due to a penalty he received in Austin for a collision with Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli.

      "There was nothing more to extract from the car, that's the reality," the two-time world champion commented. "We still made it into the second part of qualifying, and everything could have changed in a matter of fractions of a second, but we lacked pace. In theory we knew that it would be hardest for us in Mexico and Las Vegas, and that has been confirmed.

      I don't expect a miracle and that I'll be much faster in the race. But something always happens at Turn 1, and we must be ready to take advantage of it. If there's an accident or something else, we should try to make up a few positions and get into the top ten.

      In the first qualifying session we showed a more or less normal pace, and I felt comfortable behind the wheel. But perhaps I used one more set of tyres than I should have, because the first attempt was just a trial."

      The thing is, on Saturday during third practice Alonso didn't get to run on the Soft compound tyres and has now explained why: "We wanted to change the front-wheel camber, but when we tightened the adjustment bolts we found we'd gone too far. To fix everything we had to faff about — it took about fifty minutes, and we didn't have time to continue the session."

      In all 20 qualifying sessions held so far this season Alonso has outqualified Lance Stroll, who yesterday again managed only 19th.

      "Overall, in the first part of qualifying I was clearly more comfortable behind the wheel than Lance," he explained, adding: "The start is always difficult, we've never yet seen a start at this track go off without incident — in the first three corners and on the run to the chicane something always happens. We must be ready for that, try to fight our way forward, fight for positions, and we'll hope it goes our way."