Fernando Alonso explained a mishap on his out-lap ahead of a final run in Q3 during Saturday’s qualifying for the Formula 1 British Grand Prix cost him a chance at a strong finish.
Aston Martin advanced both its cars into the top-10 with Lance Stroll successfully securing eighth place.
Despite finishing as high as third in Q2, Alonso could only muster 10th place after he abandoned his final run.
The Spaniard exclaimed “disappointment” with the end result which was 10th by the time the 12-minute Q3 session had run its course and Alonso put it down to some strategic errors.
“We had only one new set of tyres for Q3,” Alonso explained.
“And yeah, we didn’t make the [final] lap. It was a big fight on the outlap between Carlos [Sainz], Oscar [Piastri], and myself.
“They started really [close] together, both of them, so their laps were not good and I started in first gear in the last corner.
“So by Turn 3 I was half a second down and yeah, we boxed.
“Yeah, being P3 in Q2, with that lap time probably we were P7, P6, P8 or whatever in Q3, it hurts a little bit but nothing we can do now.”
Still, despite Alonso’s disappointment, advancing both Astons into Q3 is a dramatic improvement over recent rounds where the Silverstone-based Formula 1 outfit has struggled to advance to Q2.
Aston has struggled through the summer triple-header amid understanding how to extract performance from multiple upgrades.
However, the team’s stronger showing on Saturday at Silverstone is a result of lessons learned at Barcelona and the Red Bull Ring.
“I think we understood a couple of the problems we faced in Barcelona and Austria, so we were optimistic or more optimistic for this race to fix some of those,” Alonso said.
“And yeah, I think we confirmed that the car went back to a more natural position, fifth or sixth fastest team, fighting for the last spots in Q3 and hopefully tomorrow we’re fighting for the last couple of points with both cars.”
Aston Martin’s fight to fend off the advances of midfield teams such as RB and Alpine including bringing more upgrades to Silverstone, a revised front wing and rear corner elements.
Alonso relayed they were working “as expected,” as the team looks to make progress after recent setbacks.
“I think the upgrades are better, the car is performing better and we tested them yesterday, the new front wing and things and it was as expected a step forward.
“And yeah, I think in Austria and Barcelona we went two or three steps backwards and we fixed a little bit the car here.
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