System 1 | Third-placed Alonso hails Aston Martin F1’s ‘progress’

Fernando Alonso was the best of the rest behind Red Bull this Saturday in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix. The Aston Martin F1 driver qualifies third for the race, and is hoping for a strong performance in the long race tomorrow.

“I don’t know if Checo is far, but I lost the car in turns 1 and 2. I didn’t know if I should give up a lap because I lost two tenths in two turns.” He was declared world champion twice.

“We didn’t give up, I attacked throughout the circuit and we set a good time. The car has improved since the morning, we made a set change and we will try to turn that into points.”

The Spaniard welcomes the relaxed Parc Fermé rule between the Sprint and the qualifiers: “It’s the same for everyone. You can’t really change the car because you’re on the weekend beat.”

“But you can still make changes to the settings, some are balancing but for others you are making mistakes and throwing coins. We won’t know the answer until tomorrow but I’m happy and proud of the team. We’re not. We’re not giving up, we’re not where we want to be, but we’re continuing to give everything.”

Still reluctant to comment on his performance, Lance Stroll limits himself to a few words to comment on his 11th place finish: “It was fine. We made changes, it should be better, we’ll see what happens in the race tomorrow.”