Fernando Alonso: Traffic prevented me from reaching the final

Alpine expected to reach the qualifying final of Zandvoort with two cars, but Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso set the twelfth and thirteenth time respectively. The team is disappointed with this result, but expects to win back in the race.

Esteban Ocon (12th): “Difficult day – we qualified in the wrong positions. The rear wheels lacked traction and the car lacked speed compared to previous weekends – you have to understand what this is all about.

In the past we’ve also taken lower positions at the start and tomorrow we’ll start not so far from the top ten – the weekend isn’t over yet. I hope to catch up tomorrow. We will do our best to do well in the race and score points with two cars.”

Fernando Alonso (13th): “Unfortunately, today is not our day. In the second part I got into traffic, so I didn’t make it to the final. I could go half a second faster and finish sixth. We haven’t been able to demonstrate the full potential, but this happens on narrow circuits like Zandvoort.

Let’s see if we can demonstrate the full speed of the car tomorrow and get a better result. It’s not easy to overtake at this track, as we saw last year, but I will attack to get as many points as possible.”

Alan Permain, sports director: “Disappointing qualification. We have to work, but I’m sure we will bounce back tomorrow and earn points. Our drivers will start in twelfth and thirteenth place, but overtaking should be possible thanks to the adapted DRS zones.

We need to work on determining the strategy for the race. Esteban is not completely satisfied with the car this weekend, as the rear wheels have no grip. Fernando’s result does not reflect his speed. Without the traffic in the second part, he would have confidently reached the final.

Tomorrow we will do everything we can to earn points with two cars. I think such a result is possible.