Fernando Alonso said the lap which put him 13th on the grid for the Japanese Grand Prix was probably the best he has ever driven at Suzuka.
Alonso, whose highest qualifying position at Suzuka was fourth in 2010, originally qualified 14th but was moved up two positions due to other drivers’ penalties.
“That was probably the best lap of my career around Suzuka,” said Alonso. ” I could have fitted 100 more sets of tyres to the car, and I probably still wouldn’t have bettered that Q2 lap time.”
“It’s frustrating to end up 14th, but that’s the situation at the moment. And it’s not as though anyone in the team is relaxing. No, we’re pushing hard, but there are no magic solutions.”
Alonso is targeting a top ten finish in tomorrow’s race but is wary of quicker rivals starting further back.
“Tomorrow’s race will be tough,” he said, “there are faster cars behind, such as Max [Verstappen’s], but we’ll do our best to try to get some points.”
lala
26th September 2015, 11:37
He said the same thing in Belgium or something :D
Fernando is nothing if not predictable. :P
ecefrm
26th September 2015, 11:53
Mmmm. Fernando must have participated in some 250 qualifying sessions. Could you count for me how many times has he said that exact phrase, since you are so sure of his predictability?
lala
26th September 2015, 13:14
I didn’t count. Did you? Do you know how many times he did NOT say that?
If you don’t see why Alonso keeps talking up his quali laps or races this season, that’s rather trusting of you.
ecefrm
26th September 2015, 15:54
Yes, according to your count you made, he did not said the same phrase 248 times out of 250. To be really predictable, he would have to say the same phrase more than 50% of times. Otherwise he is not really “predictable”. Or is not that what you meant? What do you understand by “predictable”? Maybe I am not understanding the word.
Oscar (@oscar)
26th September 2015, 18:34
Predictable = No matter which car, it will always be car´s fault.
zicasso
26th September 2015, 20:10
At least he is mature enough to remember it’s not all about him. He is positive, foments trust and remembers what is important, example to highlight the fact he is in Japan and that Honda has a lot of support there as opposed to the other driver that once again just complained about something that went wrong and that he could have done this and that but unfortunately he wasn’t allowed to. Even when he had the best car on the field, driving for Ross, he still acted in the same manner.
Gabriel (@rethla)
26th September 2015, 13:04
Not really. They have all the preassure already and it would be meaningless for Alonso to do something like that. More likely hes trying to promote himself and tell the fans hes still as good as ever even if the results arent there.
vero
26th September 2015, 13:15
+1 Agreed. Classic Fernando tactics imo.
elio (@elio)
26th September 2015, 13:32
Agree, this is classic Alonso’s propaganda. The guy has always been so full of himself.
Verstappen’s error at the end of Q1 actually saved Alonso from being thrown away of Q2, as Jenson was clearly the faster McHonda at that final Q1 lap.
zoom (@zoomracing)
26th September 2015, 14:04
classic Alonso’s propaganda?, please get a clue. From McLaren team radio.
Corrado (@)
26th September 2015, 14:07
+1.
Plus, if he cannot make news from being in front, then find another to do it: say that this is your best performance ever… even tho you’re at the back of the grid.
Greg Kingston (@gregkingston)
26th September 2015, 14:01
This is how Fernando operates. He’s been on an upward curve of improvement ever since his first race! He’s just putting pressure back on to McLaren and Honda, and trying to emphasise to the local fans that he’s giving it everything.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
26th September 2015, 15:12
From the comments I’ve read, some people just believe it was impossible for Alonso to have a personal best lap. Crazy.
Mike
26th September 2015, 15:43
Alonso is the Baghdad Bob of F1
AldoH
26th September 2015, 16:23
Absolutely spot on. Saeed al-Sahhaf.
I expect Alonso to do “the mother of all laps” very soon…
ecefrm
26th September 2015, 16:06
What he said about Spa is that he did have his best “race” there in 2015. Which is not really saying much because Fernando’s F1 performance at Spa has never been brilliant. Coming to think of it, his qualifying performance at Suzuka has not been very good either in the past. So in fact it’s very likely that if he did not commit any serious mistake during his Q2 lap today he is telling the truth as he sees it.
Now it could be that you remember all the qualy laps Alons has done in Suzuka and then you know for a fact that today’s lap was not his best. Do you happen to remember when is it that he produced his best lap then?
Oscar (@oscar)
26th September 2015, 18:56
What actually makes no sense is the ” I could have fitted 100 more sets of tyres to the car, and I probably still wouldn’t have bettered that Q2 lap time.” thing.
If he is as good as he think he is, he should know better than to take people for fools, since we all know track was improving and there was no need of 100 more sets of tyres, with a couple of them ANY driver would have bettered his own Q2 lap time.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
26th September 2015, 19:10
@Oscar I think you’re taking his words too literally.
Oscar (@oscar)
27th September 2015, 17:09
Fair enough…
But maybe I am because I’m too tired of his “I am the best, the car is the worst” style comments.
mystic one (@mysticus)
26th September 2015, 21:30
“with a couple of them ANY driver would have bettered his own Q2 lap time”
would you? how many times have you been into an F1 cockpit? it is easy to save the world from the comfort of your couch…
Oscar (@oscar)
27th September 2015, 17:16
I have no super licence, so I’m not eligible for doing that.
But ANY driver on today’s grid would, even Crashtor.
Got it now?
AndrewT (@andrewt)
26th September 2015, 16:30
Everything is relative. If you had a clean lap, making no mistakes, always hitting the apexes correctly, drew a flawless lap onto the circuit on the very limit of your car, you have done your job, you can’t do more. Not in a Mercedes, not in a McLaren. And considering that he is a two-times WDC, we might assume that he is capable of doing this.
Everything is relative. If you had cars in the last like ten-twelve seasons that were good enough to make it to the third row, and you took the car there with ease, a good lap in a car that is only good for the ninth row, ending up higher on the grid might make you feel that you have done more for it. Maybe you have done more than a frontrunner did, whose mistakes remain covered by the superior car…
And how exactly should Alonso approach interviews? He can’t say that the car is a piece of ____, even if it is. He can’t say that the upgrades are working very well, because they are not. He can’t say that he is very optimistic about the future progress, because there’s no progress at McLaren. If he does not talk about how hard he is trying, he couldn’t really say anything at all to the journalists…
Jake
26th September 2015, 16:54
Excellent post – I agree wholeheartedly with you.
2003wrx64
26th September 2015, 17:19
Well said!
dragoll (@dragoll)
27th September 2015, 0:17
@andrewt Great comment.
We don’t know if the upgrades are working or not, purely because the engine/ers/kers issue is such a dominant factor. But your point is valid, if he wants to respond to the press without talking about negative things about the season and the car, this is probably a good way of doing it. He just needs to applaud the team for something as well, might give them a bit of a shot in the arm from time to time.
AceAce
26th September 2015, 18:50
Yellow flag saved him from being eliminated in Q1. So I don’t see what was special about his lap.
Santiago Ontanon (@santiontanon)
26th September 2015, 20:14
and who is talking about Q1? :)
AceAce
26th September 2015, 21:02
Sorry. Wrong session. I was watching Q1 highlights as I wrote that 😂
AceAce
26th September 2015, 18:53
Max delivered him his best lap.
zekeri
26th September 2015, 19:29
Well… considering how slow he was going….