Fernando Alonso believes McLaren finds itself in a better position than they would have expected at this point in the season, following a third consecutive top-ten start for the Spaniard.
Alonso made it through to Q3 in Spain, Monaco and Canada – a circuit they didn't expect to go so well at – whilst team-mate Jenson Button has been just a few tenths shy of joining his team-mate on each occasion.
Whilst Alonso is pleased with Saturday's performance, he is predicting a tough race if it remains dry.
"That was a nice surprise today – we’ll take it," he said. "I was definitely happy with that session – it can be a tricky circuit in these mixed conditions, and tomorrow will be tougher for us, but there’s potentially wet weather forecast for tomorrow, and maybe a bit of rain would help us.
"I'm very happy – we’ve done an amazing job with this car in the past 12 months and we’re now in a position that’s perhaps better even than we’d expected. So I have to say thanks to everyone in the team: we were only four-tenths behind Ferrari in Q2, and that should boost the belief and motivation of everyone in the McLaren and Honda factories.
"We’re ready to attack: we’re not fighting for the world championship, so we have nothing to lose. Definitely, it’ll be maximum attack tomorrow."
Button, who starts P12, missed out on Q3 by just 0.177s, and reckons missing out on a tow down the long straight cost him a shot at qualifying higher up.
"Sitting on the cusp of the top 10 is essentially where we are right now – and it’s where we’ve been for the past few races. Still, this is a circuit on which we hadn’t anticipated being as competitive as we were in Monaco, so there are definitely positives to take from today.
"On my final Q2 lap, I didn’t get a tow down the back straight, and Fernando did – he got a tow from me! – so, up until the last sector, it was looking good for Q3, but then I didn’t get the tow and lost out.
"If it's dry tomorrow, I’ll be starting on new tyres and will be aiming to make the best of it and score some points. If it’s wet, we’ll just have to see what happens; the weather can really mix things up, and we’ve shown our strengths in making the tyres work and choosing the right strategy, so there’s plenty to look forward to."
Discussion about this post