Fernando Alonso: I think I could have got pole today

Fernando Alonso was left lamenting after a poor qualifying result, after the Championship leader’s ambition of qualifying on pole were shattered by the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton. Fernando Alonso could only manage 10th fastest, after suffering from yet another issue on his Ferrari F2012 in Q3.

Throughout the majority of the weekend, Fernando Alonso has jostled with the McLaren duo over the top spot. After ending the first two segments of qualifying fastest overall, it was believed by many that Alonso would power to pole in his scarlet Ferrari. However, after what turned out to be a problem with his rear anti-roll bar, the Championship leader was left trailing in Hamilton’s wake and qualified a lowly 10th for the race.

“I think I could have got pole today, but instead I find myself tenth. A real shame, because the car was very strong, but these things happen.” Explained Fernando Alonso, after a tough end to qualifying. “It’s maybe fifteen years that something like this has happened, but it has and there’s no point in crying over it. The problem will be fixed for tomorrow, but of course this result changes everything as far as the race is concerned: we had the chance to increase our lead over our closest rivals, but now, it’s likely that at least some of them will make up ground on me.”

Fernando Alonso currently sits 24 points clear of Sebastian Vettel in the Drivers’ Championship, and only needs to finish within the points to retain that advantage once the paddock heads to Asia for the Singapore Grand Prix later this month. Ferrari’s team principal, Stefano Domenicali, was also disappointed with how Q3 panned out for his team. However, he sought positivity in Felipe Massa’s qualifying effort as the Brazilian driver secured his highest grid position since last year’s Canadian Grand Prix in 3rd.

“What happened to Fernando this afternoon is a real shame, because today we could have gifted pole position to the fantastic Monza crowd.” Said Stefano Domenicali, “Felipe drove a great qualifying and we are very happy that he is finally back fighting for the top places on Saturday too. All the signs were there for a nice afternoon, but if you don’t have 100% reliability, then you pay a high price and today that was confirmed yet again. I remain convinced that we can still bring home a strong result in terms of the two Championships, but clearly, if everything had gone smoothly today, we would have a much stronger chance.”

Tomorrow’s 53-lap Italian Grand Prix will be a tough race for both Ferrari drivers, who will unquestionably for striving for a competitive result in front of their fanatical Tifosi following. However, with both McLarens on the front row of the grid, it would be an almighty drive from either of the two Ferrari drivers to thwart the Woking-based outfit.

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