Fernando Alonso: Fast opponents start behind

Fernando Alonso qualified tenth at Monza but should start seventh after the penalties were applied. His teammate Esteban Ocon set the eleventh fastest time, but a penalty forced him to take twelfth place on the starting grid.

Fernando Alonso (10th): “I’m a little disappointed with tenth place in the qualifying final. My circle has been removed for violating the track boundaries. As I’ve been told, if my time hadn’t been removed, I would have been eighth even before the opponent’s penalties were applied. Overall, we didn’t have enough pace in qualifying compared to other sessions of the weekend.

The car has a fast racing pace, but you have to take into account that several racers start at the back in fast cars. We have earned points in ten races in a row, but tomorrow we have to bring this number to eleven.

Esteban Ocon (11th): “Qualifying isn’t ideal – I just came up a little short to make it to the final after a sub-optimal second part. I lost control of the rear of the car several times – even a small mistake in Monza leads to a loss of time.

Numerous fines for replacing power plants have changed the setup of cars in the beginning – let’s see where this will lead. We are waiting for an exciting race with the possibility of finishing in the top ten. We will do our best to finish the weekend with a high result and earn points.”

Otmar Safnauer, Team Principal: “We missed a few opportunities in today’s qualifying, so we’re a little disappointed with the result. Esteban has been given a new combustion engine and a penalty of losing five positions, but since many have also switched power plants, Esteban is starting from a fairly high place.

Fernando is having a strong weekend so he is angry that he did not show full pace and not qualify higher. However, he starts in the top ten and has every chance to earn a lot of points.

In previous Grands Prix we showed a competitive race pace, so the task for tomorrow is to score points with two cars.”