Fernando Alonso is prepared for what he expects will be "the most horrible laps" of his career as he takes part in qualifying for the Indy 500 this weekend.
After five days of practice, the Spaniard will attempt to qualify for the May 28 event this weekend. The Spaniard will do so in a McLaren-Andretti Autosport entry powered by Honda.
The final of those five days of practice is Friday, dubbed 'Fast Friday' because it sees teams run their cars in qualifying trim. Despite running competitively on the oval this week, finishing fourth on Wednesday and Thursday, the Spaniard expects a big challenge when every lap counts.
"Gil de Ferran, my coach, my mentor, told me the four laps in qualifying will be the most horrible you've ever done because the car is very on the limit," Alonso said. "But I will have a first touch on Fast Friday and then we will see on Saturday.
"We work still a lot on the race situation, getting out there with guys and running in traffic. I still miss more laps, but we will try to make the most of it on Friday with the more power we have and try to learn from that."
Saturday determines the order of running on 'Pole Day', which is Sunday. If Alonso finishes Saturday's session (11:00-1750 ET) in the top nine positions, he will compete for pole in the 'Fast 9' group at 1700ET on Sunday. If not, he will take part in the earlier sessions which determine positions 10-33.
Alonso is missing the Monaco Grand Prix to contest this year's Indy 500, with Jenson Button making a one-off appearance as his replacement for McLaren. Alonso hopes he can win the Indy 500 so he is one step closer to winning the Triple Crown -- which includes the Monaco Grand Prix, which he won in 2006 and 2007, and the Le Mans 24 Hours.