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Fernando Alonso crashed out on his last lap in Saturday's qualifying session, but nevertheless, the Alpine driver will still start the race in P7 as he was able to put together a strong lap earlier in the session. When asked to predict how he thought the race would pan out, the Spaniard claimed that rain would bring with it uncertainty and a demanding afternoon.
He said:
“Well, it’s going to rain apparently, so situation will change a lot, so, let’s see, I think nobody really knows how we will perform in the rain here or how it will be, so a lot of question marks and a very stressful afternoon for everybody.”
The 40-year-old driver currently stands in fifteenth place in the 2022 Driver Standings.
Fernando Alonso: The out lap was not ideal on the final run
Fernando Alonso slid into a barrier at Mirabeau on the final run, just a few moments after Sergio Perez's crash had brought out the red flag.
Speaking about the crash, he revealed that a bad out lap had left him with cold brakes at the start of the lap. He further admitted that he was slightly disappointed as he felt that P5 had been possible with the car.
He said:
“Yeah I made a mistake. The out lap was not ideal! The brakes were cold in Turn 1, so in Turn 3 and Turn 4, I was thinking if I keep pushing or not because I didn’t feel the car was right, or the preparation was right and then I was looking at the steering wheel, I braked too late for Turn 5, it was a very stupid mistake!”
He went on to say:
“It hurts a bit because I think there is more potential in the car, so, it was my mistake today that I didn’t complete the lap, so, maybe P5 was possible if I did not make the mistake.”
Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer was pleased with the performance of both the cars in qualifying and said that Alonso's car has incurred minor damage, which could be easily taken care of. He said:
“Fernando had a small off with some damage sustained to his car. It’s fairly minor especially in comparison to how big crashes can be around Monaco, so the car will be fixed and ready for tomorrow’s race. There is some uncertainty in the forecast, which we’ll keep an eye on. Rain or dry, though, we’ve put ourselves in a strong position to score strongly with both cars.”
It will be interesting to see what Fernando Alonso can do from P7 in the race.
