Fernando Alonso: “I was the first to leave and I thought: ‘okay, maybe this gives us the possibility of being in the Top-4 or Top-5 if it rains'”
It’s insatiable. It has been his entire career. He always wants more. Another would perhaps be celebrating the best classification of the year, a 9th in Interlagos on a very wet asphalt, which will become a very good 8th on the grid that allows him to dream of some points this Sunday in a Brazilian F1 GP in which it could rain again. But Fernando Alonso preferred to think about the lesson that today’s fight against the clock in Q3 gave him for future opportunities.
In the wet, the deficiencies of its engine and the mechanical differences with respect to the top cars are reduced and the hands come to light. And there, Fernando Alonso shone. Especially in Q1 with very delicate asphalt, with a lot of water, where it was placed first. In that Q1, as the track progressed, Fernando always got into the Top-5 when he closed a turn. And in Q2, he was the first to put the intermediate rubber in to warm it up and achieve the pass to Q3.
In the dry, it was unthinkable that Aston Martin, with a Honda engine that lost a lot of top speed compared to the rest in the last sector and in all acceleration zones, could get into Q3. But in the wet, he did it. The job needed to be finished in a big way and to do that, he was placed first in line in the pit lane.
The team’s radar indicated that it was going to start raining heavily shortly. In fact, just before leaving, drops were already falling. Going out first on the track in those circumstances could give him an advantage to go for a great result, according to Alonso, “a top-4 or top-5”but he couldn’t warm up the wheels properly. And besides, the rain didn’t fully intensify until later than expected, giving everyone the option of doing two turns.
This deprived Fernando of a better result because on his first lap, which he thought would be his only attack due to the rain, he spent too much energy and ran out for his second lap, where the wheels were already at the appropriate temperature.
On the first lap my tires were ice cold and I had no grip at all. And then in the second lap, I had used a lot of energy deployment in the first lap, because I thought we would only have one lap. That’s why I stayed a bit in no man’s land. I have to learn from this
“I was first in line (in the pit lane) and I thought: ‘ok, maybe this gives us the chance to be in the Top-4 or Top-5 if it rains'”expressed Fernando Alonso in ‘Sky Sports’.
“But I think the intensity of the rain was not as strong as we thought. The weather held out for two laps for everyone, that’s first of all. And secondly, I think I didn’t optimize Q3. I think on the first lap my tires were ice cold and I had no grip at all. And then, in the second lap, I had used a lot of energy in the first lap, because I thought we would only have one lap (due to the intensity of the rain, which should have been much greater)”, explained the Asturian before British television.
I think the intensity of the rain was not as strong as we thought. The weather held out for two laps for everyone, that was in the first place. And secondly, I think I didn’t optimize Q3
“And that’s why I ended up in no man’s land, because in the first turn I didn’t have the wheels ready, and in the second, the deployment was not ready. So I need to learn from this experience”added a Fernando who prefers a wet race for Sunday to increase his chances of points, which seem complicated in the dry.
“Rain in the race? Yes. I think we have more chances. In wet conditions you can have a retirement due to a silly mistake or score points. And at this point in the season, I think we prefer to take risks,” he concluded.
