Fernando Alonso accepts that Aston Martin “had to throw one race away” in Qatar after opting to run the Soft tyre during Saturday’s Sprint Race.
Amid concerns over the degradation of the tyres at the Lusail circuit, the 19-lap encounter saw many teams diverge on tyre strategy between the Medium and the Soft.
While the Soft runners, including Alonso, utilised the added grip to make early progress, the severe degradation on the red-walled compound allowed those on Mediums to easily gain positions late on.
However, Alonso, who only lined up ninth after having his best lap deleted for exceeding track limits in the Sprint Shootout, sided with Aston Martin’s decision to prioritise Sunday’s grand prix.
“We had to throw one race away,” he assessed. “We throw this one and not tomorrow.”
“We don’t know what will be the strategy tomorrow. So we have to cover all the scenarios and we have to throw away one race. We decided today that starting P9 it was just possible, maybe one or two points, and it was not worth the risk.”
Alonso looked set to miss out on a points place when a failed attempt to overtake Lando Norris saw him fall into the clutches of ex-Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon.
However, the Spaniard would recover the lost place and took advantage of Ocon getting caught up in a tangle with the Red Bull of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas.
Although Alonso would lose out to Lewis Hamilton and Alex Albon to finish, Charles Leclerc’s post-race time penalty for a track limits infringement handed him a point.
“I think the weekend has been spectacular so far,” he added. “So I don’t think that we need to pray for points.
“We’ve been in the top four or five for every session, every lap we did. So if we keep doing this job tomorrow we will be in the top five at the end of the race. That will be the aim.”
Alonso will leave the grid from fourth place tomorrow, marking his best starting position since the Canadian Grand Prix back in June.
Despite only setting the sixth fastest time in Friday evening’s qualifying hour, both McLaren drivers had their best efforts deleted for venturing outside of track limits.
However, Alonso believes the pace the Woking squad have demonstrated in Qatar proves that Aston Martin must “accept” it will inevitably drop behind in the Constructors’ Championship by the end of 2023.
Aston Martin currently maintains a 36-point advantage ahead of Sunday’s race, after McLaren reduced the deficit further with a double top-three finish in the Sprint.
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