Fernando Alonso, driver for Aston Martin in Formula 1, expressed his relief at securing third place in a tense Qualifying Sprint session at the Chinese Grand Prix. Alonso took advantage of the unpredictable weather conditions to outperform both Red Bull and Ferrari. This marked a significant achievement for the Spaniard, whose last pole position in rainy conditions was in 2012, at Hockenheim. He finished behind Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton to secure third place on the starting grid. Alonso admitted that the rain in the final session favored Aston Martin’s performance, as he initially was in seventh place in Q1 before dropping to eighth in Q2. He described the session as stressful, with constantly changing track conditions making it difficult to assess grip and risk. Despite the challenges, Alonso was extremely happy with the result.
Alonso did not use the soft compound during the practice session and ended up in 19th place, over two seconds behind his teammate Lance Stroll. When asked about the team’s performance in long races, Alonso stated that it was too early to determine, but it would become clearer during the upcoming races, including the Sprint race and the main race on Sunday. Stroll, on the other hand, could not replicate his strong performance in practice and ended up with the slowest time in the second phase, resulting in a starting position of 15th for the Sprint race. Stroll expressed his disappointment, citing lack of grip as the main issue. He acknowledged that there would be limited opportunities for improvement in the next race.
