“They are getting better, but we are getting worse”

Having seen Aston Martin unable to find a rhythm in free practice, Fernando Alonso and his team’s goal for qualifying for the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix was not too ambitious, in fact, after the session he explained that Its 11th-place finish in the second quarter exceeded expectations.

Qualification chronicle:

The biggest surprise was that Alpine was ahead of the two green cars, but the two-time Spanish world champion assured that inside it wasn’t that amazing.

“I think we expected this, Alpine They were ahead of us in Monaco, they were very close in Canada, but here they are only half a tenth ahead. “They’re getting better and we’re probably getting worse… It’s not a great combination, but I think, as I’ve said many times, we have something in the works that should get us back in the right direction.”

“It will hurt here, it will hurt in Austria and it will hurt at Silverstone. We have to keep adding points, if it’s eighth then eighth, if it’s seventh, ninth or whatever, but we can’t give and we have to stay positive in these difficult times,” he added.

After analyzing the classification a little more, the Asturian driver realized that They were expecting a generally difficult Saturday and weekend. on the Barcelona-Catalunya highway.

“Before qualifying, our forecasts were a little more pessimistic. Even with one car, we decided to run three tires in the first quarter, which is a sign that you don’t have a lot of confidence.”

“Overall, I think starting 11th or 10th with Ceco’s penalty is a good result and we’re only one position away from the points tomorrow.”

“We thought the first quarter would be our limit, that’s how black we saw him this morning. So to be 11th and on the verge of scoring points is a lot better than we expected,” he said.

Despite missing out in Q3, Alonso was very close to the drivers ahead and believes such a narrow grid is something positive for the category and that this could be more evident next week at Red Bull Ring in Austria.

“We knew it would be very crowded on this type of track. I think in Austria it will be more noticeable because when you race (on a track where there are laps) one minute and six seconds or four seconds, everything will be even stronger. So yes, I think I’m happy with the result, although it hurts me to say it in front of my fans.

Everything you need for tomorrow:

The best photos from Formula 1 Saturday at the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix.

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