Fernando Alonso has secured his best Formula 1 qualifying result since the Canadian Grand Prix with fourth fastest in Qatar, but the Spaniard has warned that Aston Martin must ‘accept’ they will inevitably slip behind McLaren in the Constructors’ Championship.
Entering the Qatar Grand Prix weekend, Alonso believed it was “a bit optimistic” to anticipate a repeat of his 2021 podium finish with Alpine.
The two-time champion was expecting to be on the back foot in Qatar as Aston Martin struggled to find performance in Suzuka.
However, the 42-year-old was among the quickest to get to grips with the resurfaced Lusail International Circuit, which saw grip come at a premium amid windy and sandy conditions.
“Very, very happy. I think top 6, it has been a few races we have not been competitive [enough] for [the] third row of the grid,” Alonso said.
“Happy with the performance today. The car felt fast in Fp1 with the tricky conditions and qualifying we were also competitive.
“So, it’s only the first step. The weekend is long with a lot of racing laps in between the Sprint and the main race but this is a good start.”
Alonso benefitted from the deletion of lap times in Q3 for the McLaren pairing of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
The fate of Aston Martin and McLaren during the 2023 F1 season has effectively been mirrored.
Alonso achieved six top-three finishes in the opening eight races, but the Silverstone squad has only scaled those heights once across the previous eight rounds.
Meanwhile, McLaren has experienced a majorly contrasting season, failing to score points until round three in Melbourne before upgrades introduced in Austria reignited the team’s fortunes
With McLaren’s MCL60 now arguably the second-fastest car on the grid, the Woking-based outfit sits just 49 points adrift of Aston Martin in the Constructors’ standings.
After warning that McLaren was “overconfident” to expect to snatch fourth in the standings from Aston Martin, Alonso has now conceded that slipping to fifth looks increasingly likely.
“They have the momentum now,” Alonso said of the threat from McLaren. “They are scoring a lot of points with both cars and are very strong.
“Eventually, they will overtake us and we will have to accept it and say well done to them. So far we are still in front and we will try to defend every race.”
Aston Martin’s chances have not been helped by Lance Stroll’s struggles with the Canadian suffering a fourth successive Q1 exit on Friday, 1.1 seconds slower than his team-mate’s time.
