Although he posted his best result of the F1 season, Fernando Alonso was disappointed with his qualifying performance at the Sao Paulo GP, believing more was on the table.
For the first time this season, Fernando Alonso took Aston Martin to Q3 with a superb lap at the Sao Paulo GP qualifying. Despite the hard work of carrying the largely unreliable AMR26 to the final part of qualifying, the Spaniard was not satisfied with his effort.
A hugely beloved circuit like Interlagos often lets drivers show off their talents. Especially in wet conditions, the rain equalises the cars, letting the driver be the deciding factor in where they place in qualifying. Alonso did exactly that and took his Aston Martin to P9.
As the wet conditions improved throughout qualifying, Alonso was the first to opt for intermediate tyres.
“It was tough but I thought that we were maximising the performance on the full wets, the lap was good enough, I couldn’t maybe repeat it,” the 45-year-old explained to Sky Sports F1.
“I said ‘we are P9 so if we change nothing and we keep going, probably we will be out of Q3’. So it was better to change for inters. If it works we are Q3, if it doesn’t, we will be out of Q3 anyway with the full wets. So it was worth trying.”
The 45-year-old lines up eighth on the grid as a result of Charles Leclerc taking a grid penalty for the Sao Paulo GP, and has a real chance to secure another point finish.
The possibility of being in the top five faded
Despite putting in a fine shift and being one of the backmarkers who capitalised on the intricate conditions, Alonso found himself dissatisfied. While securing a P9 result was stunning, the Spaniard believed that if he had maximised the final stint, he could have finished in the top five.
“Yes, absolutely,” Alonso responded when asked whether he was a bit disappointed. “I was first in the queue and I thought ‘ok, maybe gives us the possibility to be top four or five if the rain comes’. But the intensity was not as strong as we thought, so the weather held for two timed laps for everybody.
“Then second I didn’t optimise the Q3 at all. The first lap I had the tyres ice cold. I had no grip at all. And then on the second, I used a lot of deployment on lap one because I thought it was only one lap qualifying.
“I ended up in no-mans land. In the first lap I didn’t have the tyres ready and in the second I didn’t have the deployment ready, so I need to learn from this experience.”
Speaking of the race and the possible conditions, the Aston Martin driver believed that “to take a gamble” in wet conditions could benefit the team.
“I think we have a better chance,” Alonso said. “Wet conditions, you can have a DNF with a stupid mistake or you can score points. I think at this point in the season we prefer to take the gamble.
“In dry conditions we struggle a little bit more than expected this weekend. In P3 I think we were P18. So I prefer wet tomorrow.”
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