MELBOURNE, Australia — Fernando Alonso believes Alpine had a genuine chance of securing pole position at the Australian Grand Prix. If not, he says “top two or top three was guaranteed.”
The Spaniard suffered a suspected hydraulics issue midway through the final phase of qualifying. It prevented him from dropping a gear upon entry to Turn 11, and his car ran wide and into the barriers. Alonso’s mechanical issue came moments before he was able to set his first timed lap of the session, meaning he will start the race from P10.
Earlier, Alonso had set the fifth quickest time in Q2, behind only the Ferrari and Red Bull quartet.
“It is unbelievable how unlucky we are, because 20 seconds later maybe we were on pole, if the car stops in Turn 1, instead of Turn 11,” Alonso said after qualifying. “It has been the best weekend for years, for me, and it is so frustrating not to execute it at the end.
“It seems quite random and quite random on my car, in the moments when we are fast. These three…
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