Fernando Alonso showed seventh result in qualifying in Abu Dhabi, his teammate finished thirteenth, but Aston Martin team director Mike Krak thinks both his drivers can fight for points.
Fernando Alonso (7th): “I’m more or less satisfied with the seventh result. In today’s third practice we weren’t fast, showing 14th and 15th times, so I had doubts about our pace this weekend.
In the first part of qualifying we looked better than I expected. With each session I rode more and more confidently, so 7th result is not bad.
Adapting to the rapidly changing conditions on this circuit is an art in itself, and when I switched from a set of soft tires to a new one, my impressions of the car’s behavior were mixed. This made qualification not easy.
I think tomorrow’s Grand Prix will be a race for survival due to the degradation of the rubber and let’s hope we can take advantage of the chaos on the track.”
Lance walk (13th): “The car made a good impression today and I was happy with our speed in the first part of qualifying, but I just missed getting a normal lap in the last attempt in the second session.
I attacked aggressively, trying to get the most out of the car, but I couldn’t. The result is very close, which means that if you lose just a few tenths, you can no longer qualify for the final.
However, as we prepare for Sunday we know that our pace is generally good, so we will see what we can do to break through the pack tomorrow and end the season with a good result.
Mike Krak, team leader: “The team coped well with the tasks during qualifying, where a lot depended on even a small difference in pace. We showed normal results during the round and got almost everything out of the AMR23.
Starting from these positions can make for a good race and I expect both cars to fight for points tomorrow. There are still questions about the long lap pace that different teams will be able to do, but I think we are in good shape.
We have something to fight for in both championships and we will do everything we can to end the season on a high note.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
