In a fiercely contested qualifying session, Fernando Alonso’s final lap in Q3 secured him the sixth position on the grid, a mere 0.363s adrift of pole-sitter Max Verstappen and just half a tenth behind George Russell in third.
However, Alonso’s fortunes took a dip during the race as he slipped down the order to ultimately finish in ninth place. Despite starting ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes and both McLarens, Alonso struggled to maintain pace, leaving him unable to hold off their advances. Meanwhile, his teammate Lance Stroll endured a spin on the opening lap but managed to recover and secure the final point in 10th.
Reflecting on Saturday’s events, Alonso noted that the race unfolded as anticipated, given the team’s position on the starting grid.
“Today I think is exactly what we expected,” the two-time world champion remarked. “Our simulations indicated that we were around P9 with limited competition ahead, with the top four teams pulling away, and a comfortable gap behind us.
“And that’s precisely how it played out. I believe I had [Oscar Piastri’s] McLaren 18 seconds ahead and the Sauber [of Zhou Guanyu in 11th] 28 seconds behind. So, we found ourselves in the middle of no one’s race.”
Alonso expressed surprise not in the team’s race performance but rather in its exceptional speed during qualifying, prompting scrutiny into the reasons behind their strong one-lap pace.
“We are lacking pace for sure. Yesterday’s laps are something to study – why we were so fast. So, I think the race was normal. What was exceptional was yesterday’s lap,” he explained.
“[The car] is better. We did improve the top speed, we did improve the fast corners. Obviously, we made some sacrifices in the low-speed stuff.”
Aston Martin is now tasked with unraveling the mystery behind its unexpectedly competitive performance in qualifying, especially considering its perceived weaker one-lap pace during the previous week’s pre-season test.
“This is something we really need to analyze because obviously you want both,” commented team principal Mike Krack.
“And in the test, it looked a little bit the opposite. In qualifying, we were much, much closer than we really thought. Today was a little bit more what we had expected.
“We need to form this picture with the tracks that are coming, but certainly we were not in a position to challenge the [teams ahead].”
