Fernando Alonso says he'll make sure he has Sebastian Vettel's back at the start of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with the hope that his fellow F1 veteran and himself finish their final race together.
Alonso and Vettel have fought each other in F1 for well over a decade, but for both drivers Sunday's curtain closer at Yas Marina will hold a special significance.
While the race will bookend Vettel's 15-year career as a Grand Prix driver, the event will also mark Alonso's last race with Alpine, with the Spaniard moving on to Aston Martin next season.
But it is Vettel who will be the man of the hour when the lights go out at Yas Marina on Sunday evening, and all of the four-time world champion's rivals are keen to see him reach his final checkered flag.
"Tomorrow, I think he starts ninth, I start tenth," said Alonso, he is sproting a special Vettel tribute helmet this weekend. "So I will take care of him at the start, on the first lap and let’s hope we both see the chequered flag."
Alonso failed to make the Q3 cut on Saturday in qualifying, the Alpine charger being denied a spot among the final top ten by Vettel. He will nevertheless gain a spot on the grid thanks to Daniel Ricciardo's grid penalty.
"I didn’t have the pace today," he said. "P13, I think, in [final practice]. P15 in Q1, at the limit, and then P11 in Q2, I felt okay with the lap and I think P11, P10 with Daniel’s penalty from Brazil, I think is okay.
"We start in the points, let’s hope to make some places and finish P7, P8 which is our normal goal."
Alonso hopes that his ambitions of concluding his final race with Alpine in the points won't be undermined by a reliability issue, many of which have undermined his 2022 campaign with the French outfit.
"I was thinking before quali that it was just two more times that I will jump in the car," he said.
"One was in quali and one will be tomorrow when I drive the car to the grid. So I tried to enjoy every lap, finish on a high.
"It will be nice to finish in the points, to see the chequered flag. It’s not guaranteed this year that we see the chequered flag. So that will be our main goal tomorrow and make some doughnuts at the end of the race."
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
