Sam Bird has admitted that Fernando Alonso left him ‘very surprised’ during qualifying for the 2024 Chinese GP before quickly changing his mind about the Aston Martin star.
The 42-year-old registered his best qualifying of the year so far at the Shanghai International Circuit. Alonso will open the Chinese GP from the second row of the grid in P3. But his Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll will start down in P11 after failing to get into Q2 this Saturday.
Alonso already had a second-row start on his record in 2024 from the Saudi Arabian GP. But the Spaniard started the race from the dirty side of the grid in Jeddah. He is also yet to claim a podium finish after dropping to fifth place in Saudi Arabia for Alonso’s best result this year.
Sam Bird found Fernando Alonso ‘surprising’ in qualifying for the Chinese GP
Shanghai has previously been a happy hunting ground for Alonso as the two-time champion is one of the most successful F1 drivers at the Chinese GP. He won it in 2005 for Renault and for Ferrari in 2013. Just Lewis Hamilton (6) has won the Chinese GP more often than Alonso.
He is in a great position to challenge Red Bull pair, Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, to win the 2024 Chinese GP, as well. Alonso emerged as the best of the rest in Q3 to set a 1:34.148 lap. Verstappen secured pole position with a 1:33.660, ahead of Perez with a 1:33.982 time.
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Alonso was even the second-fastest driver in Q3 after the provisional runs in the last part of qualifying for the Chinese GP. He set a 1:34.371 to pip Perez and sit behind Verstappen, who led the way with a 1:33.977. Alonso’s lap was also fast enough to leave Bird ‘very surprised’.
But as hastily as Bird vocalised his surprise at Alonso being the best of the rest, the McLaren Formula E racer quickly changed to praising the Spaniard for ‘always’ getting the most out of the Aston Martin. Alonso’s 1:34.652 Q2 lap was only 0.186s faster than Stroll’s to secure P7.
“Surprising, very surprising,” Bird said on BBC Radio 5 Live. “I mean, we’re not surprised by Fernando Alonso anymore, are we? He’s just always finding the absolute best out of that Aston Martin.”
Fernando Alonso improved his lap time by 0.504s between Q2 and Q3
Bird was right to find Alonso sitting P2 after the provisional laps in Q3 ‘very surprising’ as the Aston Martin driver had run 0.858s slower than Verstappen’s pace-setting time in Q2. Yet he cut the deficit down to 0.488s in Q3 after improving by a bigger margin than any rival driver.
While Alonso found 0.504s between Q2 and Q3, Red Bull pair Verstappen and Perez gained 0.134s and 0.044s. Had the Spaniard similarly only found around a tenth of a second, Alonso would have qualified in P8, rather than P3, with Nico Hulkenberg and Valtteri Bottas behind.
It may not have been enough for Alonso to add to his 22 pole positions in Formula 1, but the Aston Martin ace will start the Chinese GP in a great position to add to his 106 podiums. The Spaniard reached the rostrum eight times through his first season for the team during 2023.
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