Alonso targeted second-row start in the wet: Rain was not as strong as we thought

Fernando Alonso reached Q3 for the first time this season. The rain at Interlagos wiped out the performance differences between the cars, allowing the Aston Martin driver to show he still has what it takes. He duly delivered, although for a while it looked as though an even bigger surprise might be on the cards.

Fernando handled the difficult conditions in Q1 and Q2 superbly to take his car through to Q3, something that certainly would not have happened in normal conditions. The Spanish veteran demonstrated his talent and had no real need to rely on penalties for the frontrunners, finishing eighth in Q1 and seventh in Q2.

The Oviedo-born driver also demonstrated his experience and skill in Q2 by being the very first to switch to intermediate tyres, which undoubtedly helped him progress.

Before Q3, it briefly looked as though Alonso was on course for a sensational result, as he was first out on track with the rain expected to intensify quickly. In theory, he should therefore have had the best conditions, but the rain ultimately did not arrive quickly enough, allowing the frontrunners to complete at least one or two laps before the weather deteriorated sharply.

“Absolutely, I was disappointed,” Alonso admitted to Sky after qualifying. “I was first in the queue and I thought, okay, maybe, this gives us the possibility to be maybe top four, top five if the rain comes. But I think the intensity was not as strong as we thought.”

“First, everybody had two time laps. And then second, I think I didn’t optimize the Q3 at all. I think the first lap I had the tyres ice cold, so I had no grip at all. And then on the second, I used a lot of deployment in lap one because I thought it was only one lap qualifying,” the Spanish veteran continued.

“And then I ended up in no man’s land, you know, in the first lap I didn’t have the tyres ready, in the second I didn’t have the deployment ready. So, you know, I need to learn from this experience,” Alonso admitted.

He ultimately qualified ninth and will move up to eighth once penalties are applied. He will therefore start on the fourth row alongside George Russell. Fernando is under no illusions about being able to repeat a similar result in the dry.

“I think we have a better chance in wet. In wet conditions, you can have a DNF with a stupid mistake or you can score points. And at this point in season, I think we prefer to take the gamble. I think on dry conditions we were stronger a little bit more than expected this weekend. FP3 I think we were P18. So, yeah, I prefer wet tomorrow,” said Alonso, hoping for rain.