Fernando Alonso couldn’t resist a tongue-in-cheek dig at his former Formula 1 employer Ferrari after beating both scarlet red cars to Q3 in Saturday’s Canadian Grand Prix qualifying session.
Ferrari gambled on rain interfering during the latter stages of Q2 and went out early on new tyres, but when the rain didn’t come Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc were then forced to push on worn rubber during their final attempts to progress to the top-10 shootout.
The strategy blunder and lack of pace meant Leclerc and Sainz succumbed to 11th and 12th respectively.
Meanwhile, Alonso finished a fine sixth in qualifying and decided to throw a barb in Ferrari’s direction after some have touted the Scuderia as a genuine title contender.
“We’re close to good people, aren’t we? Ahead of [Sergio] Perez and the two Ferraris who suddenly came to win the World Championship after Monte Carlo,” the Spaniard quipped to Marca.
Ferrari’s form reversal has coincided with Aston Martin’s.
Whereas Leclerc returned to winning ways last time out in Monte Carlo, Alonso suffered his second successive Q1 elimination.
But as Ferrari floundered in Montreal, Alonso returned to his early season qualifying standard and he was pleased with Aston Martin’s progress after Saturday’s session concluded.
“I think [it’s been] a good weekend so far for us, a good Friday and then today a little bit more competitive than the last two events,” said Alonso.
“Times are extremely close, within one-tenth you can be out of Q1 and now two-tenths of pole position. So everything can happen on this tight grid and this type of circuit.
“We didn’t put a perfect lap in Q3 unfortunately, so it hurts to see now that two-tenths you could be on pole.”
Alonso has failed to pick up points in the last two Grands Prix amid a series of upgrades that appear to have failed in elevating Aston Martin up the pecking order.
However, the Spaniard hopes that Saturday’s session is a sign of better things to come.
“I think we are understanding for sure a lot of things on the car, but this is the first step into hopefully a recovery plan,” he said.
“Much better starting position obviously than the last two events, but the race is tomorrow.
“If it does rain, if you stop one lap too late or one lap too soon for the wrong tyre, that means your race is over. So we have to keep very, very focused tomorrow.”
