Aston Martin faced tough races lately but improved in Montreal qualifying. Fernando Alonso took 6th place, just 0.228s behind the pole sitter, George Russell of Mercedes. The small gap between them and other drivers showed the challenge of the wet, low-grip track.
Alonso found his lap frustrating, especially after a mistake in Turn 2. He said, “I didn’t put everything together in Q3, so when you see that you are only two tenths from pole position, it hurts a little bit.” He explained that he lost control of his car in Turn 2, affecting his lap time.
Despite the setback, Alonso felt positive about Aston’s overall performance. He said, “Already [on Friday] we felt a little bit more confident with the car.” Qualifying 6th and 9th (for teammate Lance Stroll) gives them a chance to score points.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri from McLaren faced similar challenges. Norris said, “When you’re so close, you always think, ‘could I have jumped in the car for that little bit more?'” Piastri added, “If you did a perfect lap, you could have been on pole by nearly half a second.”
The drivers noted the difficulty of the conditions and the track layout in Montreal. Alonso summed it up, saying, “Just difficult conditions, difficult track layout and challenging, which makes Montreal what it is.”
The close competition highlighted the tough conditions drivers faced. While mistakes cost some precious time, they remained optimistic about their teams’ performances.
