Fernando Alonso admits that he was pleased to feel “more competitive” than in previous rounds in Qatar.
Alonso’s winter move to Aston Martin coincided with the team emerging as a front-running contender, enabling him to scoop six podiums in the opening eight races.
However, Aston Martin has since been outdeveloped vastly by its rivals at the top and Alonso has only returned to the rostrum once across the previous nine rounds.
Despite not being in contention for a top-three place in Qatar, Alonso secured his best grid start since June with fourth and converted that into a sixth-place finish.
Although McLaren closed further in the standings, Alonso was encouraged by Aston Martin’s weekend performance at the Lusail circuit compared to previous rounds.
“I felt more competitive this weekend than the last few events,” he said. “Ninth in Monza, no points in Singapore, ninth in Japan, so I think a little bit better this weekend.”
The extreme heat and humidity present during Sunday’s race provided the drivers with a gruelling test and saw many require a trip to the medical centre afterwards.
Alonso, now in his 20th F1 season, believes Sunday’s Qatar Grand Prix resides in the “top three” hardest races he’s ever encountered.
“One of the hardest [races] for sure,” he noted. “I think when we were racing in Malaysia in Sepang in [the] daytime, I remember those to be very extreme. I think it was Bahrain 2005 it was like 41 degrees, extremely hot. And then here, for sure in the top three.”
Midway through the race, Alonso radioed in to inform his team that his seat was burning before asking to have water thrown in the cockpit when he came in for a pit stop.
Alonso reveals that Aston Martin failed to follow his request because the regulations don’t allow for that practice to be conducted.
“Well I had a testing week here. I remember in August before Qatar, and it was similar to today,” he continued. “I think Qatar always in this time of the year is quite extreme.
“In our case, I think for Lance [Stroll] and myself, both of us, we were struggling a little bit with temperature in the seat on the right-hand side. I got like burned in the first 15 laps, so I even asked on the radio if they could throw me some water or something at the pit stop which apparently isn’t allowed.
“It was quite extreme, but nevertheless, a couple of points so good for the team.”
Pressed on if he had experienced similar problems with the seat before, Alonso replied: “We had been dealing with some issues before, but yeah. Today was extreme.”
Having swiftly regained a position that he had lost to Charles Leclerc, Alonso was on course to beat the Ferrari home until he had a moment at Turn 2 and trailed through the gravel.
That allowed both Lando Norris and Leclerc through and Alonso was unable to recover the lost ground, resigning him to sixth.
“Yeah, I lost the car. It was my mistake. I struggled a little bit with on/off grip in the car at the moment, quite digital,” he explained.
“So, yeah, it was my mistake. It cost maybe one or two places, so hopefully better next time.
