The qualifying for the Grand Prix of Qatar they definitely smiled not only atAlpine, which will see both of its drivers in the top ten of the starting grid, but above all a Fernando Alonso: the 41-year-old Spaniard, who returned to F1 this year after his last experience in the Circus dated 2018, in fact obtained the fifth place, his best seasonal qualifying placement. A result magnified by the debut of F1 on the Losail track, where almost none of the drivers involved had had the opportunity to run in the past.
The two-time world champion therefore made the most of his experience and the potential of the French car, which actually appeared in good shape on the Qatari track since the first free practice sessions: “I think the whole weekend has been positive for us – confirmed Alonso – the car was strong in all sessions and seems to have a good pace especially in the fast corners. I told the team that if they gave me enough fuel, I would drive all night and wait for them here tomorrow morning. There is a feeling that some circuits are better than others for our package and Qatar seems to be one of them. However, we need to understand why we lack this type of performance on other circuits. However, points will be awarded tomorrow, so we will have to maximize our starting position. We start on the clean side of the grid and there are several tire strategies we need to be aware of. We have some question marks – he concluded – but facing them starting from fifth position is better ”.
To complete the Alpine qualifying ‘party’ he finally thought about it Esteban Ocon, also entered in Q3 and author of a final ninth place that allows the entire team to be able to keep alive the fight with the AlphaTauri, also protagonist of an excellent performance: “As a team, it’s a very positive result for both Fernando and me – he has declared – from me we still lost a little bit today, and we need to review some things to understand where we were lacking and where we can improve. It must be said that we also left a little more on the table, as on my last lap I went wide in turn 1 trying to gain some time. In any case, we are back in Q3 which is great, but we know points are awarded on Sunday. We are still fighting and we can fight hard tomorrow to earn some points ”.
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