Stroll: Today was a great day

The darkest clouds of the year rushed towards Interlagos just in time to turn the final runs of Q3 into a topsy-turvy lottery, and when Luck was dishing out gift cards on Saturday (turned night by the dark heavens) Aston Martin granted themselves a couple, as Alonso added to the joy with fourth place.

Thus row two for the Grand Prix will be all Green, which makes for a massive change to Mexico City last Saturday when Alonso and Stroll qualified P13 and P18 respectively.

It was also good to see Stroll smile from the heart for a change. The kid needed a reprieve and he got it. Outqualifying Alonso is not to be sneered at, now for the rest of the weekend to make amends.

Stroll reported in Parc Ferme after Qualifying: "The car was feeling good throughout the session. Q3 was really tricky. My lap was pretty bad but I think conditions changed a lot. I had a few lock-ups and missed some apexes but in the end, good enough for top three, which is a great result.

"It’s been tricky the last couple weekends. We had a good race in Austin but then a few days later in Mexico a really tough weekend, so today was a great day so I’m very satisfied. With both cars starting from the second row, we will be aiming for a podium on Sunday.

"I think the race will be tricky. All the teams are very close and it is difficult to know exactly where we stand. We were fortunate when the rain came but we also made the right calls.

"Both Fernando and I were able to get our Q3 laps in early before the rain started to fall. The points are awarded on Sunday, so let’s see what we can do from a good starting position," declared Stroll, who earlier in FP1 showed his hand with P6 on the timesheets.

In the other Aston, the veteran Spaniard was chuffed too: “We needed that qualifying result. We have experimented a little in the last few races and we were seeking a good result for both cars here in Brazil. I think we proved this weekend that we have understood a few things about our car in recent races.

"I hope we have a clean weekend starting with a good Sprint tomorrow. We have a very good position to start the race from on Sunday, so we are looking forward to that. Hopefully, that is the last of the rain, and we will go again in the Sprint," added Alonso

Aston Martin performance boss, Tom McCullough summed up a good day for the Greens: “A very well-executed day by the entire team brings us a strong qualifying result and full credit to Lance and Fernando.

"We've been competitive from the off and found a good balance with the car during the only practice session this morning. On this relatively short track, the margins are really tight across the whole grid, so it was important that we delivered strong laps across Q1, Q2 and Q3 and got the timing right.

"You have to be opportunistic, too, and, with rain approaching, both drivers knew that the first lap in Q3 would be the one that counted. Today’s result leaves us well placed to race well on Sunday when we will be targeting a good return of points with both cars," added McCullough.

Saturday's Sprint Shootout will reveal if Aston Martin really lucked it thanks to the sudden change in conditions or if they indeed found a magic G0-Faster button on the AMR23 today in Brazil.