Fernando Alonso wishes nightmare day could restart after shock US GP Q1 exit

Jamie Woodhouse 20 Oct 2023 11:38 PM

Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso speaks to media. — Fernando Alonso lifts his cap.

Blighted by brake issues in FP1 and out in Q1 alongside Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso would love a fresh shot at qualifying Friday in Austin.

Stroll was restricted to just five laps in the sole practice session of this sprint weekend due to left-front brake issues, a problem which also impacted Alonso’s AMR23.

And following that limited running to settle in the upgraded Aston Martin challenger, both drivers found themselves going no further than the Q1 stage.

Fernando Alonso calling for reset button

Alonso then will start the United States Grand Prix from P17, two spots ahead of Stroll, with the two-time World Champion now treating the race weekend as a “test” session for developing next season’s Aston Martin.

“It was the maximum,” Alonso told Sky F1 of his result in Austin.

“I think yeah, the lap was not ideal, the out-lap especially, the traffic was very bad.

“I think I crossed the line within one second of the limit, so I started the lap too close to the cars in front, so that didn’t help.

“But the lap felt okay. The pace was maybe looking not good enough to be in Q2. Let’s see tomorrow if we can make a good sprint, because Sunday race is heavily compromised now.

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“We should go back and repeat the day completely, starting from the morning. We had a terrible [FP1] session, Lance didn’t complete any laps, I did only six or seven quality laps with a new package.

“太多未知数的如何操作package on the new car. So yeah, I think we went a bit blind into qualifying and obviously we see the results.

“So nothing we can do now, we are in parc ferme, we use this weekend as a test for next year as well, even if they are painful. So let’s see what we can learn in the remaining sessions.”

Stroll also felt like he was extracting performance efficiently from the AMR23 despite his lack of track time, but the challenger simply did not have enough to give to clear the Q1 hurdle.

“It didn’t feel like it was a bad session,” he said. “I think I actually felt like I was okay in the car and even after no running in FP1 I felt like I got to grips with the car pretty quickly.

“But yeah, we just weren’t quick enough. I was hoping for more for sure.”

Aston Martin now face the very real prospect of relinquishing P4 in theConstructors’ Championshipto McLaren this weekend, the gap only 11 points.