2023-10-21 02:17:18
Published：2023/10/21 11:17
Fernando Alonso remained in 17th place in qualifying for the 19th F1 race, the United States Grand Prix, held on Friday, October 20th, suffering his first Q1 loss of the 2023 season. His teammate Lance Stroll also finished 19th, and both Aston Martins disappeared in the first round.
Alonso’s worst qualifying performance this season was 10th place, and he was not even eliminated from Q1, let alone Q2, so Alonso’s expression was grim throughout the post-session interview.
Asked whether the knockout was due to not getting a clean lap or the car’s lack of competitiveness, Alonso answered, “I think that was the best possible performance.”
“The traffic was particularly bad on the out lap, so it was definitely not an ideal lap. I think I crossed the line within a second of the limit. Overall, the car felt fine, but… Maybe we didn’t have enough pace to advance to Q2.”
With qualifying over, the car was placed under parc fermé. Set-ups cannot be changed for the second day of the event, which includes a shootout and sprint.
Alonso said Sunday’s race, which will start from 17th on the grid, is “pretty dangerous” and added that he first needs to see how his sprint goes.
Courtesy Of Aston Martin Lagonda Limited
Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) lapping the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), October 20, 2023 F1 United States GP FP1
Aston, which has been lagging behind Mercedes and Ferrari since mid-season, brought in major upgrades this time around, including the floor, diffuser, engine cover and beam wing.
However, free practice is already limited to 60 minutes, and in FP1, Lance Stroll had a problem with the left front wheel brake and ended the session following only 5 laps, so there was not enough data for qualifying. I haven’t been able to collect it or go through a satisfactory setup process, so it’s more of a downgrade than an upgrade, at least for now.
“Honestly, I think we should start the day all over once more in the morning,” Alonso said.
“It was a terrible session. Lance didn’t really get going and I only really got around six or seven laps with the new package.”
“There are so many unknowns when it comes to the package and driving the new car. We had to go into qualifying with a lot of fingers crossed. And this is what it turned out to be.”
“There’s nothing we can do because we’re already under parc fermé. Even if it’s painful, maybe we should use this weekend as a test for next year.”
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) won the pole position in the 2023 F1 United States Grand Prix qualifying. Lando Norris (McLaren) was second, followed by Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) in third.
The shootout will be held on October 21st (Saturday) at 26:30 Japan time, and the sprint will be held for one hour starting at 31:00 Japan time at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA).What the session looks likeDAZNandFuji TV NEXTIt will be broadcast live on .
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