Fernando Alonso found himself two tenths off of pole position, starting 6th for Sunday’s race in Montreal after his Q3 appearance since China. The Spaniard was unable to string together the perfect lap in Q3, much like everyone else in that session, although he still managed to secure 6th, with his homegrown teammate Lance Stroll just behind him in 9th.
The 42-year-old was battling major oversteer on his final run, and debating whether he should abort the lap and go back into the pits.
He decided against it, and that’s when the Spaniard found himself in 6th. Between his oversteer issues, the drop of rain and the windy conditions, this was a tricky qualifying session for everyone.
“A little bit of everything [in terms of feelings]. Yeah definitely a good position to start after the last two events when we were out in Q1. So that was race over basically.
“Obviously starting P6 and P9 we have chance to score points tomorrow.
“At the same time, it was a tricky qualifying for everyone. With the wind it was gusty and it was changing direction. With the drops of rain, always you lose a bit of confidence.”
Alonso was 0.228s off pole position and he admits that hurts as a snap of oversteer at turn 2 cost him a shot at pole.
“I think no-one did a perfect lap today, and It was the case for me as well. 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.
“All in Turn 2. It was so oversteering and I lost the car so badly that I was just thinking to abort the lap or keep going.
“I kept going and I was P6, so if two tenths put you in pole position, maybe everything was already in one corner. I was just driving very aggressively after that to recover the lap.”
Aston Martin believes they have come to a better understanding of the car finally, and there is higher expectations for not only this weekend, but future events also.
The Spaniard knows that these current cars can be unpredictable, with a team dominating one weekend and then not so much the next, so he isn’t sure they can guarantee another Q3 appearance at his home race in Barcelona.
“I think we have a little bit of a full picture now of the car after the first nine races, so yeah we were expecting a little bit better weekend here.
“Already [on Friday] we felt a little bit more confident with the car. The last two events we were out of Q1 so that was race over, basically. But now starting P6 and P9 [for team-mate Lance Stroll] we have chance to score points.
“Hopefully we can now tackle the problems and be competitive everywhere.
“I think we saw race by race things can rapidly change. Ferrari in pole position, dominating Monaco, and now out of Q3.
“It’s difficult to put an order and to make sure and be sure that in Barcelona we will be in Q3 again, I think no one can guarantee that.”
After the free practice and qualifying sessions this weekend, Alonso is feeling confident with his Aston Martin and knows tomorrow’s race will be all about who can manage their tyres the best.
Luck will also need to be on his side tomorrow, as the possibility of rain can make the British team’s strategy more complex.
“We felt a little bit more confident with the car today as well.
“And tomorrow is going to be all tyre management.
“If it does rain, it’s one of those races that you know, if you stop for the inter tyre or the dry tyre one lap too late or one lap too soon, your race is over.
“You have to time it perfectly and that will be a little bit of luck needed.”
