Fernando Alonso believes he was able to secure a front row position and perhaps even pole position this Saturday in Melbourne before a mechanical problem ruined his chances.
The Alpine team again managed to place its two single-seaters in Q3 this Saturday during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. Spaniard Fernando Alonso even set records in two sectors when he lost control of his car due to a mechanical problem. The Alpine rider finished his race at the bottom of the gravel pit and was clearly very disappointed after the session, when his weekend was his best in years so far.
† Looks like we’ve had a lot of bad luck so far. It’s a real shame to run into this problem during qualifying. We had the rhythm to invite us to the top 3, or even the front row. † said Fernando Alonso this Saturday night in Melbourne.
“I felt very fast on my flying lap in Q3. I’m not surprised I’m so close to the leaders because we worked hard as a team. Every weekend we have made progress and that is positive. Personally, it was my best weekend in years so far and it’s frustrating not being able to live up to today. We’ll see what’s going on tonight and investigate what happened. I hope we can score points tomorrow. †
On the management side of the team, Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer also believes Fernando Alonso could easily finish in the top 5 in qualifying this Saturday, as the A522 package is competitive at the Melbourne circuit.
† I see qualifying as a missed opportunity because we had the chance to get a great team result. † said the American.
“It’s really positive that we have our two cars in Q3 for the second time in a row. That said, we had the potential to put one of the two in the top 5 as our package is competitive here. Finally, tomorrow we will start from eighth and tenth position and we know that we can still drive a good Grand Prix. Our race pace on Friday was interesting, so we will try to convert those good starting positions into big points. Fernando was undeniably very fast today. We are investigating the cause of the problem that led to his accident. It’s a real shame because our pace should have allowed us to start higher on the grid. †
Australian GP starting grid
| pilot | Team |
|---|---|
| 1 – Charles Leclerc | Ferrari |
| 2 – Max Verstappen | Red Bull |
| 3 – Sergio Perez | Red Bull |
| 4 – Lando Norris | McLaren |
| 5-Lewis Hamilton | mercedes |
| 6-George Russell | mercedes |
| 7-Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren |
| 8- Esteban Ocon | alpine |
| 9 – Carlos Sainz | Ferrari |
| 10 – Fernando Alonso | alpine |
| 11 – Pierre Gasly | Alpha Tauri |
| 12 – Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo |
| 13 – Yuki Tsunoda | Alpha Tauri |
| 14 – Guanyu Zhou | Alfa Romeo |
| 15 – Mick Schumacher | Hare |
| 16 – Kevin Magnussen | Hare |
| 17- Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin |
| 18 – Nicholas Latifi | willems |
| 19 – Lance Walk (+3p) | Aston Martin |
| Alex Albon (say) | willems |
