Fernando Alonso says that failing to complete his final Q3 run in qualifying at Silverstone “hurts a little bit” after he was unable to fulfil the potential of the AMR24. Alonso was an impressive third fastest in Q2, but he got caught up with Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz on his out lap at the end of Q3. He eventually had to abort it, leaving him in 10th.
Teammate Lance Stroll took eighth in the other Aston, and Alonso felt his true position was ahead of the Canadian.
“We didn’t complete the lap, so a little bit disappointed,” said Alonso when asked by this writer about his session.
“We had only one new set of tyres for Q3 and, yeah, we didn’t make the lap. It was a big fight in the outlap between Carlos, Oscar and myself. They started really together, both of them, so their laps were not good. And I started in first gear in the last corner!
“So by Turn 3, I was half a second down. And yeah, we boxed. So being P3 in Q2 and with that lap time, probably we were P7, P6, P8 or whatever in Q3, it hurts a little bit. But nothing we can do now.”
Alonso: Aston Martin have learnt lessons
Aston has endured two difficult weekends in Spain and Austria, and Alonso said that the team has learned some lessons from those races.
“We understood a couple of the problems we faced in Barcelona, in Austria,” he said. “So we were optimistic, or more optimistic, for this race to fix some of those.
“And yeah, I think we confirmed that the car went back to a more natural position, fifth or sixth fastest, team fighting for the last spots in Q3 and hopefully tomorrow fighting for the last couple of points with both cars.”
Aston only has a modest upgrade package in Silverstone, including a revised front wing, but Alonso says it has made a difference.
“I think the upgrades are better. The car is performing better, and we tested them yesterday, the new front wing and things.
“And it was, as expected, a step forward. And, yeah, I think in Austria and Barcelona we went two or three steps backwards, and we fixed a little bit the car here.”
He added: “I think we have just more grip. And always the same car, and we drive in the same way, but just a little bit faster.”
