Fernando Alonso reacts to Lance Stroll finally ending qualifying streak after 42 races

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Fernando Alonso insists Lance Stroll’s critics are wrong about him even after beating his Aston Martin teammate in 42 straight qualifying sessions.

Stroll hadn’t beaten Alonso since the 2024 British Grand Prix, one of the longest such streaks in F1 history. Alonso was gunning for Michael Schumacher’s record of 56, set between 1992 and 1995, but ultimately slots into fourth place.

But ironically, Stroll finally ended the run at Alonso’s home race, outpacing him by less than a tenth of a second as Aston Martin once again locked out the back row.

Fernando Alonso highlights what people don’t ‘remember’ about Lance Stroll

Speaking to Spanish media including SoyMotor, Alonso defended Stroll in light of the damning sequence. The Canadian did outpace him in Sprint qualifying at last year’s Chinese GP, but that didn’t count towards the record books.

He insists that Stroll is a ‘very fast driver’, as he apparently demonstrated against four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel in 2021 and 2022. In Vettel’s final season, their overall head-to-head was relatively close (10-10 in the races, 13-7 in qualifying).

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“Lance is closer than it seems or even ahead of me more times than we remember,” Alonso, who has consistently defended the divisive Canadian, said. “It was a good streak, but in some of the Sprints he was ahead and it didn’t count.

“He was right there with Sebastian, so Lance is a very fast driver.”

For his part, Stroll said he didn’t care about outqualifying Alonso. After all, the larger concern for Aston Martin is that they were a second slower than newcomers Cadillac and nearly two seconds down on the time needed to reach Q2.

David Coulthard: Fernando Alonso’s ‘mantra’ is that he must beat his teammate

Speaking on Channel 4’s highlights show, David Coulthard explained that Alonso will be more frustrated about losing out to Stroll than qualifying last.

“He’ll be particularly disappointed, because he’s been outqualified by Lance Stroll,” he said. “I know that’s been a mantra – even in his difficult times at McLaren, alongside Stoffel Vandoorne.

“He’d always say, ‘Whatever happens, I don’t care where I am on the grid, as long as I outqualify my teammate.’ So that will be the bigger disappointment, quite frankly.”

• READ MORE: Fernando Alonso joining Aston Martin rival in 2027 is now ‘gaining traction’ in Barcelona F1 paddock

Alonso scored Aston Martin’s only point of the season so far in Monaco last time out, with the aid of several retirements and penalties further up the road.

Critics have long argued that Stroll is only on the grid because his father, Lawrence, owns Aston Martin, but it’s worth noting that the 27-year-old has a Grand Prix pole to his name, as well as three podiums.