Alonso: I was not fast enough in qualifying

The veteran Spaniard, competing in his second F1 race weekend since his comeback, was only good for 15th place and missing out on Q1 while Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon managed to find an extra four-tenths in Q2 and eventually end up ninth on the grid.

In doing so the Frenchman ended a streak in which Alonso has not been beaten by a teammate in qualifying since 2017, and the 39-year-old did not mince his words when assessing his qualifying session.

“I was not fast enough today," declared Alonso. "And didn’t maximise the performance of the car. I’m disappointed in my result and let’s hope we can still get something tomorrow. It’s difficult to overtake here, but the points are given in the race so let’s see how we do.

"On the other hand, Esteban did well today and showed our updates that we brought here have worked well. In Bahrain, I had a good Saturday and a bad Sunday, so hopefully that is reversed tomorrow," concluded Alonso who won the epic San Marino Grand Prix at Imola in 2005.

Alpine executive director Marcin Budkowski summed up: “We have mixed feelings as a team after today’s qualifying. We knew it would be tight after FP3 between a handful of cars and there was always going to be a fight to have both our cars in Q3.

"It was a really good session for Esteban, and he was solid throughout each round of qualifying. Ninth is probably where the car is at the moment.

"Fernando didn’t quite get it together as he’d have liked, and we’ll analyse that to see how we can improve. We’re looking forward to tomorrow’s race. There is a chance of rain, so we’ll be ready to grasp any opportunity," added Budkowski.