Fernando Alonso says that he isn't too proud of his qualifying lap for the Mexican Grand Prix, but is happy with the team's starting position. The Spaniard advanced from Q1 and split the Force Indias at the end of the second stage, putting himself in a strong position to score some points.
However, the double world champion stated that the lap wasn't great as he suffered from understeer throughout: "It was one of those days when I finished the lap and thought it was a shame because it wasn't a good lap," said the McLaren driver.
"I had a lot of understeer with the last set of tyres and I crossed the finish line with a bittersweet taste. When they told me I was P12 I was very happy because it's a very good result for us and with the Force Indias having used the tyres that in theory are for tomorrow today. So overall a good result, but as I said, when I crossed the finish line it was not one of those laps you are not too proud of."
Starting outside the top ten, Alonso will have free choice of tyre to start the race on. This could benefit the former Renault and Ferrari man, as he could jump drivers inside the top ten who will have to start the Grand Prix on the rapidly degrading hyper soft compound.
Alonso believes that McLaren will have stronger pace in the race as he felt comfortable during the high fuel race simulation runs on Friday: "We thought we had much better race pace, especially yesterday we saw every lap we did without traffic we were pretty fast so we are more confident for the race than for qualifying.
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Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
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