McLaren deserved Q3 place sooner – Alonso

2016 Spanish Grand Prix

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Fernando Alonso says McLaren deserved to reach Q3 earlier than they did after he took one of the team’s cars into the top ten for the first time in their current association with Honda.

“Today is the first time in a long while that I haven’t watched Q3 on television,” he remarked.

“But, in truth, we probably deserved this result a couple of races ago,” Alonso added.

As he will line up tenth on the grid Alonso is likely to be the lowest qualifier who will start the race on used tyres, putting him at a strategic disadvantage. Alonso admitted this may make points-scoring difficult.

“That’ll require some thought because, for the first time this year, we’ll be starting on used Q2 tyres – we don’t have a free choice, which is a slight handicap that we’ll look to recover somehow.,” he said.

“Nonetheless, we should be thinking about moving forwards tomorrow and doing that here is usually all about the start and the pit stops.”

“Put it this way – I don’t think we’ll see too much overtaking tomorrow. That means we really need to focus on the start, and then look after our tyres because degradation is likely to be a factor.”

Jenson Button didn’t make the cut for the final ten and said he wasn’t entirely happy with his car’s handling.

“My car has been suffering from a loose-feeling rear end which isn’t how I like it to feel because it means I can’t fully commit into corners,” he said. “I tried my best, but driving around that handling characteristic has never been my strong point.”

2016 Spanish Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    9 comments on “McLaren deserved Q3 place sooner – Alonso”

    1. Hülkenberg, Kvyat and Massa were underwhelming today, so I’d say 10th is actually quite flattering.

      1. Adam (@rocketpanda)
        14th May 2016, 17:33

        Yeah… I can’t help but think this is a bit of a false dawn. If Massa was there Alonso would have been 11th and no Q3 so…

      2. WillOfTheSupremo
        14th May 2016, 18:44

        Valid points, for sure.

        Still, it was achieved in a very power-hungry track. Can’t shake off the feeling that they climb the mountain atm, not falling down the hill…

    2. Massa is a surprise, Kyvat no so much (Sainz with the other TR was not so much better than the lap of Alonso), but, if I look at 2016 so far, seeing Hulkenberg behind a Mclaren does not really startle me the least bit…

      1. But if KVY had still been at RBR and VES at STR there is a good chance both teams would have been in Q3 with 2 drivers ánd Massa would normally have been there too.

        Imho McLaren realistically are fighting with FI for 6th and 7th place behind Mercedes, Ferrari, Williams, RBR and STR.

    3. The Professor
      14th May 2016, 21:51

      If they deserved it then button would have made top ten aswell. Massa, Kyvat and Hulk played a role in Alonso’s tenth place. Let me finish with this..with all the resources and money Scuderia Ferrari are a joke of a racing team.

    4. And Alonso beats Button yet again…

      1. By about a tenth of a second only and given Button had lost a chunk of running of running time in practice and has been effectively been the test bed for the new front wing then hardly something to shout about , guess you’re a Button basher though

        1. Buttonhole22
          15th May 2016, 17:07

          And Button beats Alonso in the race… Even before the retirement Button was comfortably holding his own against Alonso …. Not bad for an old guy who gets written off all the time

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