Fernando Alonso of the Alpine F1 team with a blistering start gained four places at the end of the Sprint Qualifying race at the 2021 British Grand Prix. In a trademark Alonso start, the Spaniard went from eleventh position to fifth position after a remarkable opening lap.
Alonso then put up a feisty defence of his position before having to concede positions to the two McLaren drivers. In the closing laps, Alonso managed to keep his seventh position after a tough duel with old rival Sebastian Vettel. Alonso was the star of the first Sprint Qualifying and said: “It was a good session for us today and I had a lot of fun. I think we made the right choice starting on the Soft tyres and it’s a better position to start the race tomorrow.
“Our start was good and I climbed quite a few places from eleventh to fifth in the first few corners. We then lost a few positions back to the McLarens and held onto seventh at the end. I think the format was fun but I am sure there are some small improvements we can make. We’ll aim to carry this momentum into the race tomorrow.”
Esteban Ocon: “I’m pretty pleased with today’s Sprint Qualifying”
Esteban Ocon started in thirteenth position and gained three places in the Sprint Qualifying race on Saturday. Ocon needs a good race on Sunday after poor performances in the previous three races.
Ocon said: “I’m pretty pleased with today’s Sprint Qualifying as we’ve gained three places for the race tomorrow and that means we’re starting in the top ten for tomorrow’s race. It’s where we felt we should be yesterday, so that’s positive. The call by the team to start on Softs was good and I had a quick start off the line to gain some positions.
“I enjoyed the new format; it was fun as it added some action and dynamism to the weekend as well as some uncertainty. Tomorrow we have a free choice of tyres again and that leaves the strategy box open with some flexibility on what we can do. We’re ready to race again and hopefully we can put on another show for the fans.”
