Fernando Alonso, making his way into Q3 in Montreal, couldn’t resist a jab at his former F1 team, Ferrari, who failed to make it out of Q2 despite lofty ambitions of winning the World Championship after the Monaco Grand Prix.
Last time out at the Monte Carlo Grand Prix, Alonso didn’t score a single point in what turned out to be a processional race won by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. As Alonso closed the gap to Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the standings, fans and pundits dreamed of a title fight. Leclerc, however, remained focused on the long-term, saying he wasn’t thinking about the championship just yet and emphasizing the importance of improving consistently. ‘We need to keep focusing on the process more than on the outcome,’ he told the media before the Canadian Grand Prix. Unfortunately for Ferrari, neither Leclerc nor his teammate Carlos Sainz made it out of Q2 in Montreal, with Leclerc lining up 11th on the grid and Sainz 12th.
In contrast, Alonso’s current team, Aston Martin, managed to get both cars into the top ten, with Alonso in sixth and Lance Stroll in ninth. Alonso didn’t hold back from pointing out the discrepancy, noting, ‘We are in front of good people: Perez, the two Ferraris that suddenly came to win the World Championship after Monaco.’
With George Russell securing pole position in Montreal, the starting grid shaped up to be an exciting one. As Alonso prepared for the 70-lap race, he highlighted the role of luck, especially with rain predicted. ‘Definitely a good position to start after the last two events when we were out in Q1, so that was race over basically. But now obviously starting P6 and P9 we have a chance to score points,’ he said. He admitted that tyre management would be crucial, particularly since the absence of P2 long runs left teams in the dark about race-day performance. ‘If it does rain, it’s one of those races that if you stop for intermediate tyres one lap too late or one lap too soon, your race is over, so you have to time it perfectly. A little bit of luck will be needed for everyone.’
Alonso’s remarks add another layer of intrigue to the Canadian Grand Prix, setting the stage for a race where strategy and perhaps a bit of luck will be key factors.
