The Spanish driver entered the qualifying session for the 2022 Formula 1 British Grand Prix looking to repeat the result he achieved in Canada, where he finished on the front row alongside Max Verstappen. After passing easily in Q1 and Q2, Fernando Alonso was fastest at the start of Q3, three seconds ahead of the rest, but gradually dropped to seventh position.
The Spaniard managed to cross the finish line three seconds before the checkered flag waved, with which, in theory, he could improve on his final lap, since the track conditions would be beneficial for the A522, but as he recognised, he already he had used all the battery he had on his previous lap.
“Today there was more,” said the two-time champion. “Unfortunately we didn’t use it in Q3. Q1 went well, as did Q2, and in the final round we were first! And I thought it was very good.”
“But then, obviously, you have to start the lap by crossing the finish line as late as possible in the session, with a full battery, so you have to recharge on the previous lap,” explained the man from Oviedo. “We didn’t have that much margin, we went all out on the previous lap, and in the end we managed to cross the finish line with three seconds to spare, but without battery.”
Alonso said his best time was “like two laps from the end” so it was “too early in the session to do better” but reckoned that was pretty much where the Alpines were going to be at anyway. the race, so he wasn’t too disappointed with the result.
“We lost maybe a couple of seats because of that,” he said. “But I also think if you qualify ahead of Lewis [Hamilton] or George [Russell], or Lando [Norris] maybe, tomorrow you end up in your natural position.”
“So in the end, seventh position, I think that’s where we’ll fight tomorrow, so that’s fine,” the two-time world champion continued. Alonso was hopeful that the weather conditions in the qualifying session would work in favor of the Alpines.
“We are not, unfortunately, fighting for the championship, but sometimes we can take more risks than others. Even this Saturday, in Q1, we waited like six minutes before going out, the only two cars in the garage were us.
“We said it wasn’t going to rain in Q1, so we’d wait a bit to get out at the end. You can’t do that kind of thing when you’re fighting for a World Cup, and if we have mixed conditions on Sunday, maybe we can be a bit bravest,” said the Spaniard.
