Fernando Alonso: “I’m happy and proud, a seventh place was unthinkable”

Fernando Alonso put on a show from the moment he hit the track in Saturday’s wet qualifying session. Starting Q1 on full wet tires—the bright blue Pirellis—he was the first driver to complete a lap and finished the opening round in second place, just behind George Russell. He later slipped to eighth in Q2 and seventh in the decisive Q3, which means he’ll line up on the fourth row of the grid.

Aston Martin gets tires selection spot on

That result is far better than expected for Aston Martin. On a dry track, the car would have struggled to even make it past the first cut. Credit goes to the team for boldly choosing the extreme wet compound while most rivals leaned toward intermediates. Within minutes, the rest of pit lane copied Aston’s strategy, but Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll already had the advantage.

“It was more fun than I imagined—even an hour before getting in the car,” Alonso said afterward. “I thought it would be an extremely tough session because even on slicks we didn’t have much grip on this asphalt. I expected a long night full of incidents and red flags, but nothing happened. The tires worked better than expected, and it was really enjoyable to drive.”

Speaking to reporters, Alonso admitted he anticipated losing positions as others built confidence lap by lap: “We found the limit on the very first lap—that’s our strength. Other teams have cars that allow them to take it easy and gradually push harder. By Q2 the track was drier, and they kept pushing. By Q3, with the track even drier, you end up in your natural position. In Q1 we took risks, the team saw clearly we had to go out on extreme wets, and we were very competitive. But we knew we’d lose spots in Q2 and Q3. Finishing seventh was unthinkable just a few hours ago, so I’m extremely happy and proud.”

On track conditions, Alonso added: “I expected it to be very difficult, but it wasn’t that bad. In places like Austria or Brazil you get rivers crossing the track and much trickier asphalt. This wasn’t too bad. We were worried the extreme wets wouldn’t last the whole session, but they held up through Q1, which was a big advantage for us. The team usually gets these calls right. We’re not as competitive as we’d like, and the car isn’t as fast as we want, but the team always goes for the maximum result possible. This is another good example. I’m happy for them, and now we’ll see what we can do in the race.”

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