Martin Brundle says 22-pole driver nearly had ‘massive accident’ in Australia

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Sky Sports F1 pundit Martin Brundle says one Aston Martin driver was lucky to avoid a ‘massive’ crash in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix.

Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso locked out the fifth row of the grid in Melbourne.

But Brundle, speaking during Sky’s coverage of the session, says the team nearly had a hefty repair job on their hands.

It was the first time this season that Stroll has out-qualified his teammate, with the Canadian nearly half a second quicker in Q3.

Alonso dominated the Saturday battle between the two last season, winning it 17-3.

The duo will start the race ahead of Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, who made a shock Q2 exit, but behind the RB of Yuki Tsunoda.

Martin Brundle says Fernando Alonso nearly had big crash

During Alonso’s first run in Q3, he lost control of his AMR24 car at turn six.

He then ran through the gravel trap but was able to avoid any visible damage.

Alonso returned to the pits before returning to the track for a second attempt.

While he’ll be disappointed to only qualify 10th, Brundle says things could have been a lot worse.

He said: “That could have been a massive accident.

“It won’t have done the underneath of the car any good. He did well to save that.”

Stroll responds to pressure at Aston Martin

Stroll delivered a strong response in qualifying after crashing out of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The 25-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season but it’s unclear whether his seat is at risk given that his father Lawrence owns the team.

Despite that apparent layer of protection, one journalist suggested that he was under pressure heading to Australia after his ‘moment of madness’.

Another suggested that the bottom five teams – Haas, Williams, Sauber, RB and Alpine – are counting on him to make a mistake so they can score points.

BBC F1’s Harry Benjamin has called for Stroll senior to replace his son and provide greater competition to Alonso.

On Sunday, the former Williams man will hope to close the gap between himself and the two-time world champion in the standings.

It currently stands at 11 points after Alonso bagged a fifth-place finish in Jeddah.