Fernando Alonso’s Prolonged Woes Handicapped His Chances of Making It to Q3 in Imola

Fernando Alonso had a disastrous qualifying session in Imola as he failed to make it into Q2. He registered the slowest lap time among all the classified drivers and will start Sunday’s Emilia Romagna GP from P19 on the grid, ahead of Williams’ Logan Sargeant. Alonso felt bad for the mechanics after the session and admitted the team was expecting much better.

Aston Martin had Q3 in their sights, owing to the upgraded car they brought to the circuit. Alonso, however, had to encounter multiple problems as he tried to make that happen. He crashed in FP3 which damaged the AMR24, after which another mechanical issue made him abort his final Q1 lap.

After the session, the Spanish driver said,

“I was fueled for the whole of qualifying. I set my lap on the first attempt, and on the last attempt when the car was lighter, I had to stop with an issue on the car. They told me to box and I said sure. I asked what was the problem and still unknown“.

Fernando Alonso: I was fuelled for the whole of qualifying, I set my lap on the first attempt, and on the last attempt when the car was lighter I had to stop with an issue on the car.

— Junaid #JB17 (@JunaidSamodien_) May 18, 2024

The Oviedo-born driver then added that starting from P19 in Imola would be “very painful”, as overtaking isn’t easy around this historic circuit. In this regard, he ranks Imola only behind Monaco, where F1 travels to next week to complete the double-header.

For Aston Martin, this is a huge setback. They are in a battle for P4 in the Constructors’ Championship with Mercedes, and Fernando Alonso has been the driver bringing most of the points for them. With Lance Stroll set to start from P13 in the other AMR24, signs aren’t good for the Silverstone-based outfit.

Aston Martin suffers huge setback against Mercedes

Mercedes is the closest team to Aston Martin on paper, with the likes of Ferrari, McLaren, and Red Bull miles ahead of the aforementioned two. As a result, the upgrades brought to Imola were for them to get the better of the Brackley-based outfit.

Unfortunately for Aston Martin, the Mercedes drivers are in a much better position to score big points on Sunday.

Lewis Hamilton qualified in P8 and George Russell will start two places ahead of him. And by finishing ahead of the Aston Martin duo of Stroll and Alonso, the Silver Arrows stars will hope to increase the gap between their teams in the Constructors’ Championship.