Fernando Alonso has admitted that he got the maximum out of his Renault, despite failing to make the top-ten in qualifying.
The Spaniard had expected to be quicker in qualifying, having earlier talked-up the French Manufacturer’s chances. However after the session, Alonso admitted that the R29 was just not fast enough and he could not have qualified any higher up the order.
Alonso’s team-mate, Romain Grosjean, also struggled in qualifying. The young French-Swiss driver was eliminated in Q1 after complaining of traffic.
Fernando Alonso – 13th: “Today we just weren’t competitive enough and we struggled in both Q1 and Q2 where I did my maximum but still missed out. However, it was an unusual session today as we had big competitors knocked out in Q2. Tomorrow this should make for an interesting race and then there is always the weather which may play a role. So we will not give up and will do our best to fight back tomorrow.”
Romain Grosjean – 19th: “It was a difficult session today as there was a lot of traffic. I was blocked on a couple of my quick laps by a Toro Rosso and then my last quick lap was ruined by the yellow flag. However, the car has been good all weekend and I really love this circuit so I will give my maximum to move forward, finish the race and gain more experience.”
Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering: “Today we have seen a very unusual grid formed and unfortunately we are not in the right part of it. It has been difficult to understand where the performance is this weekend because the lap times of the cars are all very close. Fernando just missed out on Q3 and Romain had some issues with traffic. We must now have a look to see whether we can use strategy to gain some points tomorrow.”
