Two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso believes Aston Martin had their best qualifying at the 2023 Australian Grand Prix on Saturday, despite being outshone by their PU-suppliers and rivals Mercedes.
The Spanish veteran Alonso, on the occasion of his 259th Grand Prix, will start fourth on the grid at Albert Park, with Max Verstappen on pole and Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton second and third respectively.
Enjoying an F1 renaissance, Alonso was second on the grid in Jeddah after Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was handed a penalty, but he said Aston Martin had closed the gap with Red Bull in Australia.
"In terms of performance, arguably, this was the best qualifying for us of the three (races). It's the closest we've been to pole position, so I feel fast and the car is easy to drive and I enjoy it," Alonso told media.
His fastest lap in Melbourne qualifying was just over four-tenths of a second shy of Verstappen's, a slight improvement on his gap with Red Bull pole-sitter Sergio Perez in Jeddah.
Alonso: Target is to score as many points as possible
The 41-year-old Alonso, who came third in both of the first two races of the season and grabbed his 100th podium in Jeddah, said that it would be hard to get ahead of the Mercedes cars on Sunday but that Aston Martin's strength was on the long runs.
"I feel confident, I feel positive about the race," said the Spaniard, whose teammate Lance Stroll qualified sixth. "Our strength is, I think, the long run pace so we start in the first two rows of the grid and our strengths are on Sundays -- let's use it.
"We'll see what we can do because we're expecting it to be difficult to overtake, but in these cooler conditions it will be an interesting race with lots of unknowns.
"The target is to score as many points as possible," declared Alonso, winner of the 2006 Australian Grand Prix, his second successive F1 championship-winning year, driving for Renault.
Stroll: The field is incredibly tight but we're in a strong place
In the sister Aston Martin, Stroll is also enjoying resurgent form, having driven the first two races injured, the Canadian was good for sixth, and will start the race behind his teammate on the grid.
After qualy, Stroll reported: “It was fun out there ; it is a great track to push hard at and the car was handling well. I think the team put in a good performance to qualify fourth and sixth despite fairly challenging circumstances.
"It was tough to understand at which point the tyres would be in their peak operating window given the changing temperatures and we only had one set of tyres left for Q3, so there may have been a little more lap time in there.
"That being said, the field is incredibly tight, [but] we're lining up in a strong place to fight hard for the top positions," added Stroll, ahead of his 125th Grand Prix start; his best result in Melbourne was ninth place in 2019.
Krack: We head into the race feeling confident with our pace
Aston Martin team boss, Mike Krack summed up: “It was a tricky session with the threat of rain present throughout the whole of qualifying and especially during the final moments of Q3. We also saw an incredibly close field with every tenth of a second making a difference in Q1, Q2 and Q3.
"That was why we had to try and find the balance between saving tyres and making sure we did not miss the cut with quite significant track evolution. We were sensible and played it safe to ensure we progressed with both cars, but it meant Lance had just one set of new Softs for Q3.
"He made the best of them with two timed laps and starting from sixth gives him a great opportunity to score well tomorrow. Fernando’s session was strong, too, with clean and tidy laps putting him on the second row. We head into the race feeling confident with our race pace and ready to fight once again," concluded Krack.
Ahead of Round 3 of the 2023 F1 World Championship, on Sunday, Aston Martin and Mercedes are tied for second in the 2023 F1 constructors' championship standings, on 38 points, well behind Red Bull on top with 87.
(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Additional Reporting by GP247)
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