Fernando Alonso has said that Aston Martin have missed out on a golden opportunity in qualifying for the 2023 Singapore GP despite qualifying seventh on the grid.
Despite the team’s car showing decent race pace in simulation runs during practice, Alonso had to settle for seventh as he watched his countryman Carlos Sainz secure a second consecutive pole position for Ferrari.
The door was opened for the other teams after Red Bull continued their earlier struggles from the weekend during qualifying, with both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez out in Q2 as they struggled for grip.
Speaking to media after the session, Alonso said that the team had not capitalised on the opportunity, but that with the car setup seventh was the best they could do on the day.
“It was tricky for us the whole day. In FP2, we were not competitive. And then in qualifying, we made some setup changes. The car had improved, but only for P7,” Alonso said.
“When the Red Bulls are not dominating, it feels like you are losing an opportunity to be in that position. So yeah, that is what we have today, seventh fastest, let’s see tomorrow.”
One of the best this year
Despite disappointment of falling down the order after the team believed ahead of the weekend they could compete at the front, Alonso said he thought his lap in Q3 was one of the best he has done all season.
“I think coming into the weekend, probably yes, we thought that Singapore could fit our package and our car,” Alonso said.
“But after FP1, FP2, FP3, I think we went into qualifying knowing that Q3 maybe was already a difficult task, to be in the top 10.
“So at the end, P7 feels okay. The lap in Q3 was very good. One of the best laps of qualifying of this year, in my opinion. So yeah, nothing more today in the car.”
