- Brazilian GP - Qualifying
Q1 issues did not change result - Alonso
Fernando Alonso says eighth was the maximum result possible in qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix despite battery issues in Q1.
Alonso was animated in the opening qualifying session when he started his first lap without a fully-charged battery, gesticulating in the cockpit and saying over the radio: "How is it possible, how?" But Alonso says the issue was soon rectified and thinks the issue is magnified because it was broadcast on TV.
"In Q1 we were not ready to do the laps," Alonso said. "The first flying lap is normally the best for the tyres and my first lap was a recharge lap because I had no battery going out of the garage, so we were not prepared for Q1. It didn't affect anything because Q1 is just a matter of going through. We put things in place and we arrived in Q3 with the best performance on the car, with one set of new, soft tyres. We put a lap together on the last attempt so it didn't affect the qualifying, we just weren't ready for that lap but it wasn't a big thing. Obviously when it goes on TV it is a big thing for this afternoon, but there are hundreds of these things which don't go to TV in Brazil so it's normal."
Alonso suffered a fiery engine failure in FP2 on Friday, but later said his Ferrari was running an engine at the end of its cycle. Despite this Alonso says there was no issue with power during qualifying in his newly-fitted engine.
"No," Alonso said when asked if he was down on power compared to team-mate Kimi Raikkonen. "Yesterday, yes, a little bit - on Friday my engine was very old and perhaps not performing at the best. But today the engine is good, the engine is similar on the two sides of the garage and I'm happy. If we save again on Friday in Abu Dhabi we should be OK for in terms of qualifying and the race.
"Power is good. The weekend has been difficult with some missing balance and settings we are trying. In qualifying anyway I think we struck the maximum. Being eighth and tenth is more or less as we expected because we were seventh and eighth this morning - eighth and tenth now, one tenth of a second [more] and you can be fifth. The important thing tomorrow is trying to finish ahead of our competitors.
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