Alonso: “It’s going to be difficult to finish the race&”;
Fernando Alonso had no problems during qualifying, but his car didn't allow him to do better than 13th. On the other hand, Stoffel Vandoorne once again experienced engine problems and had to make do with 18th place on the grid.
McLaren once again experienced a complicated winter, with numerous technical issues related to the installation of its Honda engine. The team was looking to determine where it stood in terms of performance and whether the hard work of recent weeks would bear some fruit.
Fernando Alonso, 13th (1:25.425 in Q2)
Fernando Alonso once again stood out by getting the most out of a package that seems clearly far from the best on the grid. In these difficult conditions, his satisfaction comes from being able to defend his chances without any technical problems, which is already a first victory: « After the difficulties faced this winter, we arrived in Melbourne without really knowing where we stood. We were able to complete almost all the sessions without issues, which is better than we expected. »
He was then able to attack to show that his talent has not eroded with the years of frustration he has experienced: « I had enough sets of tires to enjoy my laps in Q1 and Q2. I’m happy with the balance of the car and being able to really attack. It’s useful because, at the moment, we need to extract the maximum from the package we have. »
But the double world champion is under no illusions about his race tomorrow: “We’ll be starting 13th tomorrow, in the middle of the pack, which is clearly not our goal. Finishing the race is going to be difficult. And even if we do finish, to end up in a decent position, we’re going to need the weather to help us and for other cars to have problems.”
Stoffel Vandoorne, 18th (1:28.858 in Q2)
If Fernando Alonso was spared by his machine, this was not the case for Stoffel Vandoorne. The Belgian, indeed, experienced a very complicated session as during his first two stints, he was hastily called back to the pits due to significant power drops in his engine: « I had an oil pressure issue in Q1 and had to cut short my first two stints because the engine had very little power. It’s really a shame because after FP3, everything was going in the right direction and I was confident. »
But this confidence can’t do everything, especially when you finally launch into your first timed lap two minutes before the checkered flag of your second qualifying session in F1. The 2015 GP2 champion therefore couldn’t do better than 18th: « It’s always difficult when you only have one chance to set a time because you can’t take risks and you have to make sure it counts. »
If he had finished in the points during his only race so far (in Bahrain, last year), this goal now seems quite distant. He would certainly have some satisfaction if he could just make it to the end of the race, given that the team hasn’t been able to do more than 12 consecutive laps this season.
