‘Disappointed’ BBC F1 pundit rues 22-pole driver lacking ‘magic’ in Australian GP qualifying

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Marc Priestley admits the BBC F1 pundit was ‘the tiniest bit disappointed’ with what he saw from Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso in qualifying at the 2024 Australian GP.

The 42-year-old is competing in Melbourne for the 19th time in his Formula 1 career. But he produced the two-time champion’s worst qualifying of the 2024 season so far this Saturday. Alonso will start the Australian GP in only P10 following his costly mistake during qualifying.

A lot more was left on the table for the Spaniard in Q3, having posted the fifth-fastest lap in Q1 and the sixth-fastest time in Q2. Alonso’s Q3 lap was even his worst time at the end of a stage this Saturday. He set a 1:16.991 in Q1 and a 1:16.710 in Q2 but only a 1:17.552 in Q3.

Fernando Alonso ‘lacked confidence’ in Australian GP qualifying

Alonso has admitted that the Aston Martin driver ruined his rhythm in Q3 with a mistake at Turn 6. The Oviedo had to go through the gravel trap during his provisional run after having a kick of oversteer. He lost the AMR24’s rear end on entry and only narrowly avoided the wall.

The mistake cost the Spaniard dearly as Alonso admits he ‘lacked confidence’ to push on his second run in Q3. Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll also out-qualified Alonso for the first time this year. The Canadian claimed P9 in Q3 with a 1:17.072 after setting a 1:16.780 in Q2.

Stroll had only qualified in P12 for the Bahrain GP and P10 for the Saudi Arabia. Alonso had the sixth-fastest qualifying time in Sakhir and the fourth-best time in Jeddah. But he would not get everything on offer out of the AMR24 in Melbourne when his confidence took a hit.

Marc Priestley was ‘disappointed’ with the Aston Martin driver

Priestley, who worked for McLaren in 2007 when Alonso was Lewis Hamilton’s teammate, felt more was certainly on offer for the Aston Martin star in qualifying for the Australian GP than a P10 finish. He also felt the tide was starting to go against Alonso in Q2 as he lacked ‘magic’.

“It’s a decent lap from Alonso,” Priestley said about the 22-time pole sitter’s Q2 run on BBC Radio 5 Live (23/3, 05:39). “I think the fact that they’ve been so good in qualifying probably says a lot about why I feel the tiniest bit disappointed.

“I thought they might just get a little bit of magic that might put him right up in the top five.”