Fernando Alonso admitted a worry about getting through the first phase of qualifying after the red flag caused by Max Verstappen’s crash at the Swimming Pool complex left the Spaniard without a time.
The McLaren-Honda driver regrouped and was able to return to the track at the head of the line when the session restarted, and responded by not only making it into the second phase of qualifying, but also the final phase as well, but despite this achievement, was still not feeling as confident with his MP4-31 as he would have liked.
Alonso will start the Monaco Grand Prix from ninth on the grid on Sunday once Kimi Raikkonen take’s his gearbox penalty, and hopes to secure a points finish for only the second time in 2016.
“We had a little bit of stress with the red-flag stoppage in Q1: we only had six minutes left and I hadn’t set a time,” said Alonso. “Our main goal today was to get into Q3, but I still don’t really feel confident with the car – I didn’t have a perfect feeling with it, and I wasn’t therefore confident enough to really attack the corners.
“Our predictions ahead of this weekend were maybe a little over-optimistic, but let’s see what happens tomorrow. We’ll need some rain, snow or whatever to give the race a little bit of action – the start will dictate the complexion of the race, but hopefully the weather will make the show more exciting.
“It would be great to come out of the weekend with some decent points.”
