Fernando Alonso It went from surprising everyone with the 4th best chrono in the first part (SQ1) of the Sprint classification session, which serves to order the departure grid for the short sleeve of the weekend that is played this Saturday, to fall eliminated in the subsequent SQ2 in the 14th place. However, F1's two -time champion stayed with the positive side of things: the front wing that premiered in Spa works and that is good news for the next appointments and the future of the team.
Aston Martin put Alonso and Stroll on track too soon. They were among the first to perform their return and the great improvement of the asphalt in the final moments gave wings to many of their rivals. However, Fernando blames his elimination to the real rhythm of the car in this circuit. In addition, he stressed that his fourth position in SQ1 was simply due to his initial adaptation capacity on days like today, after just an hour of previous training for all. Alonso, as is usually the case with Verstappen, always adapt before, but as the turns pass, the real rhythm of the cars ends up imposing on the pilot's hands.
“What happened in the SQ2? That people have put a second game of tires and have reached us. Normally, the Q1 is our best session and we go to the limit in each lap, about 100 '%, and the other people are increasing the speed little by little during the classification. If we had followed on the track, we would have fallen the same, because our best session is always the Q1”Fernando Alonso explained.
“The result is what there is. It is our natural position (in spa). The first round of Q1 is always the best because there is not much more where to get and the others seem to need a little more heating and in Q2 they improve, in Q3 they improve, and in the end you finish where the car usually says. But in the Q1 the pilots can have fun a little more“He added.
The improvements provide more load
In this context, Fernando preferred “He has taken a step forward,” achieving more aerodynamic grip in curve.
“The improvements? Well. In the free 1 we have been able to try the new pieces, that new front wing, and it seems that it is a step forward. We have more aerodynamic load with that spoiler and with that we are happy. It is the configuration that we have used now and to see if we can learn a little more tomorrow in the Sprint race and decide for the rest of the weekend”he said about it.
That is, with the previous spoiler specification, the rhythm of the car could have been worse. The enormous equality in the middle zone means that in circuits that are not favorable, it is very easy to fall into Q2 or even in Q1. Therefore, it is important to contextualize and understand that this 14th place is due to the characteristics of the track and not one step back.
Fernando will start 14 in the Sprint race, far from the points of points (Rate until 8). Thus, this test can be taken to the Sprint as a pure test of the new spoiler and nose that it presents to extract key data to understand the performance of these elements and how to get the most out of it through the adjustments for the next races.
That the new pieces have worked must also be positive for 2026, since these elements have been created entirely in the new wind tunnel of Aston Martin, the same in which the car next year is being created, the first of Adrian Newey. However, the same should happen with the new floor released in Silverstone, but the team decided not to use that bottom in Spa. They must explain it.
