Alonso thought Australian GP pole was possible before Q3 crash

Fernando Alonso believes he could have had a shot at securing pole position for Formula 1’s Australian Grand Prix until his crash in Q3.

Alonso comfortably made his way through the final part of qualifying in Melbourne, finishing Q1 and Q2 in fifth place behind pacesetters Ferrari and Red Bull.

The Spaniard had set the fastest second sector as he rounded the Albert Park circuit on his first flying lap in Q3, but ran wide at Turn 11 and crashed into the barrier to bring out a red flag.

Alonso reported over team radio a suspected hydraulic issue that had left him unable to downshift, leaving the two-time world champion frustrated to lose a “guaranteed” top three starting position for Sunday’s race.

“[It’s] something we need to investigate when the car is back,” Alonso said, as quoted by The Race.

“It is unbelievable how unlucky we are. [If it happens] 20 seconds later, maybe we were on pole.

“Only for my car it’s a concern, the other car seems OK.

“That’s why I said it’s a bit unlucky because if we had reliability problem on both cars, they are facing issues, it could be something that we need to fix but it seems quite random and [usually] in the moments when we’re fast.

“In Bahrain, we were P9 or P10, maybe you don’t care if the car stops, but in Jeddah, we were OK and today, a top two or three was guaranteed I think.”

While Alonso conceded fighting for pole was not expected, he insists Alpine’s pace was not a surprise in what he felt was his “best weekend in years”.

“The car is getting better and better, we feel more confident,” Alonso explained.

“The team is working hard and maybe a surprise to fight for pole, but not a surprise to be closer and closer to the leaders.”

Providing he doesn’t suffer a grid penalty to repair his cars damage or mechanical failure, Alonso will start from P10, but suggests the resultant crash may have cost Alpine the chance of a podium finish in Melbourne.

“Let’s see when the car comes back to the garage if we need to change something that gives us penalties or whatever,” Alonso added.

“Right now, in the heat of the moment, when you’re so close to pole position, tomorrow scoring a couple of points is OK but we deserve a podium sooner or later.”