Alonso reacts to Indy 500 qualifying failure

Fernando Alonso lamented fine margins after his failure to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, extending his wait to secure the 'Triple Crown' for another year at least. The double world champion was eliminated in Sunday's last-row shootout after failing to make it through Saturday's main session.

Alonso missed out on the top 30 by 0.02mph on his average speed, and was once again narrowly adrift in Sunday's action.

Having clocked an average pace of 227.353 mph from his four laps, Alonso was swiftly moved onto the edge of elimination by Saga Karam before Kyle Kaiser pipped him by just 0.019mph for the unfancied Juncos Racing team.

Consigned to a watching brief at the Brickyard next week, with McLaren's Indy project in tatters, Alonso summed up his frustrations.

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A difficult week, no doubts. We tried our best, even today with a completely different set up and approach, 4 laps flat on the throttle but we were not fast enough. It’s never easy to drive around here at 227mph +, and want more speed... We tried our best and we’ve been brave at times, but there were people doing better job than us. Success or disappointments only come if you accept big challenges. We accepted. Thanks to the massive support always here at the speedway and everyone at home. Now full focus on next target ? #indy500

A post shared by Fernando Alonso (@fernandoalo_oficial) on May 19, 2019 at 2:38pm PDT

"It has been a very long qualifying, nearly 56 hours from yesterday morning," he said.

"Yesterday, we were 31st instead of 30th. Today, 34th instead of 33rd by a very small margin, and unfortunately, we were not fast enough on both days.

"I’m disappointed now, obviously it would be nice to be in the race next Sunday.

"I want to thank the team for all the efforts, we kept pushing. We came here to race and to challenge ourselves and we were not quick enough.

"I congratulate all the other guys that did a better job, and hopefully, we'll see a nice show next Sunday, with everyone safe. I will be enjoying from the TV, unfortunately."