Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso says he went beyond the limit during qualifying as he secured a spot on the front row of the grid for the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Spaniard looked set for his first pole position since Germany 2012 in the dying moments of Q3 on Saturday, before a rapid final sector from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen gave the Dutchman his first-ever pole in the Principality.
Despite seeing pole snatched from his grasp though, Alonso was happy with his day’s work.
READ MORE: Verstappen takes Monaco pole as Perez suffers Q1 crash
“You never know here in Monaco,” he said. “As Max said anything can happen, always a couple of incidents, yellows, red. Better to put a lap on the board and be at the front. When they told me I was P1 – just [Yuki] Tsunoda and Max completing the laps – I knew the possibility was there to be P2. But yeah I think even if it feels very close the pole position we have to be happy.
“We came here with some concerns about our performance on Saturdays, we seem very god on Sundays and taking care of the tyres, degradation is good on our car. But we struggle a bit on street circuits to put the temperature to hit the lap in Q3 but we are starting the first row of the grid in Monaco so I think it’s job done today.”
Alonso drew attention the time he lost to Verstappen in the final sector, adding that this has been the team’s most problematic area over the weekend.
“I don’t think so,” he said when asked if he tried a different approach in qualifying. “I think both laps in Q3 we were increasing the level of risk to an uncomfortable level let’s say I think both laps were a little bit over the limit sometimes but everything went fine.
“The last sector seems our weakest part of the circuit, I think already in FP3, we were eighth quickest I think there. So maybe there is something going on there we need to analyse a bit, maybe going into Singapore is the next opportunity we have.”
15 championship races in Monaco have been won from second on the grid, and it has turned out to be a more virtuous starting spot than pole in the last 10 years.
The two-time champion said it was “great” statistic to hear, and a race win is certainly not off the table going into Sunday’s race.
“Let’s see, it’s a long race,’ explained Alonso. “I don’t think overtaking opportunities will come at all as it is Monaco.
“But it is a very demanding race on the car, on the gearbox, on the brakes. There’s a lot of things to take care of over 78 laps so we have to focus, concentrate, be sharp on pit stop, strategy. Anything can happen; if an opportunity comes we will take it.”
Having not taken a race win since 2013, Alonso is pleased that newer fans of Formula 1 can now see him competing at the front.
“It feels great. I always had self-confidence on what I could do in terms of driving, over confidence sometimes but that’s part of my DNA probably.
“But it is a proof maybe for people outside, they were a lot of new fans, maybe coming as well from 2014 or 15 or DTS or all these things that they only saw me fighting for Q3 or something like that, or retiring from the race with some smoke at the back.
“Now I think they are surprised that they see me fighting toward a bit the front, for me it’s okay, I’m enjoying, but it is more enjoyable that new fans can see that we are fast.”
