"Too slow" Alonso in need of "lucky Sunday" at Imola

Alonso, Alpine, Imola — Photo: © LAT Images

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

"Too slow" Alonso in need of "lucky Sunday" at Imola

Alonso will line up 15th for the Emilia Romagna GP

Ewan Gale

Saturday 17 April 2021 20:23

Fernando Alonso has slated his own Emilia Romagna Grand Prix qualifying performance by saying he was simply 'not good and not fast' enough.

The Spaniard failed to emulate his qualifying form of three weeks ago in Bahrain, where he finished ninth, as he struggled to make any impact at Imola, being out-qualified by both Williams cars to finish15th and last in Q2.

With team-mate Esteban Ocon ninth, it is the first time a team-mate has out-qualified Alonso since 2017 - a run of 27 races - with the two-time champion left with no explanation for his own lack of pace.

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"It was not good," assessed Alonso. "I was disappointed not to end in the top 10 or a bit further up but it was the way it was. I was not fast.

"The car felt good, the balance was good and every time I finished the lap, I was quite happy with how I felt.

"Definitely was too slow to be higher in the classification. Nothing we can do now, unfortunately, just try to understand it and improve for next time and think of tomorrow."

Imola is notorious for being difficult to overtake due to the narrow, old-school nature of the layout, further compounding the difficult qualifying for Alonso.

Nevertheless, the 39-year-old has refused to throw in the towel, despite acknowledging he will need others around him to find trouble during the race.

"It is going to be a tough race, starting from the back at Imola," he added.

"It is not well known for overtaking opportunities so we know it is going to be a race to struggle a little bit at the back, but nothing we can do now and let's hope for a lucky Sunday.

"We had a good Saturday in Bahrain and an unlucky Sunday so let's hope for the other way around.

"We will need a couple of things happening in front of us which may happen.

"We saw a lot of things happening in free practice, a lot of red flags, a lot of mechanical issues, it is very demanding this circuit because we use a lot of the kerbs and so on.

"We are naturally there and we have to improve the pace, that is the number one priority because if we are not faster tomorrow than today, it is difficult to overtake anyway.

"We need to concentrate on how to get more performance from my side and then receive some help from the guys in front. If not, I think overtaking is very difficult here."