The qualifying session at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace Interlagos for the Sao Paulo Grand Prix delivered a compelling narrative as Fernando Alonso successfully steered his Aston Martin machine into Q3 for the first time this season. Despite securing a stellar ninth-place grid spot—which later promoted him to eighth following a grid penalty for Charles Leclerc—the veteran Spanish driver expressed dissatisfaction with his overall execution.
Wet conditions at Interlagos traditionally act as an equalizer, allowing exceptional driver talent to overcome underlying car limitations. Capitalizing on the tricky asphalt, the two-time world champion made a decisive tactical gamble by being the first to switch to intermediate tires as the track condition improved toward the end of the session.
"It was tough but I thought that we were maximising the performance on the full wets, the lap was good enough, I couldn't maybe repeat it," the 45-year-old explained to Sky Sports F1.
Elaborating on the strategic switch, he added: "I said 'we are P9 so if we change nothing and we keep going, probably we will be out of Q3'. So it was better to change for inters. If it works we are Q3, if it doesn't, we will be out of Q3 anyway with the full wets. So it was worth trying."
Although he achieved his personal best grid slot of the campaign while wrestling an inconsistent AMR26 challenger, the realization that a top-five finish was genuinely on the table left him feeling that more potential was squandered. Errors involving ice-cold tires on his first flying lap and depleted energy deployment on the second ultimately hindered a higher finish.
"Yes, absolutely. I was first in the queue and I thought 'ok, maybe gives us the possibility to be top four or five if the rain comes'. But the intensity was not as strong as we thought, so the weather held for two timed laps for everybody," Alonso stated.
"Then second I didn't optimise the Q3 at all. The first lap I had the tyres ice cold. I had no grip at all. And then on the second, I used a lot of deployment on lap one because I thought it was only one lap qualifying. I ended up in no-mans land. In the first lap I didn't have the tyres ready and in the second I didn't have the deployment ready, so I need to learn from this experience."
Looking ahead to the grand prix, embracing calculated risks in unpredictable wet weather is viewed by the Aston Martin squad as the ultimate avenue to secure valuable championship points.
"I think we have a better chance. Wet conditions, you can have a DNF with a stupid mistake or you can score points. I think at this point in the season we prefer to take the gamble. In dry conditions we struggle a little bit," he concluded.
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