Formula 1 Chinese GP

Alonso considered aborting P3 lap in F1 China qualifying

Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso revealed he nearly aborted the lap that put him third on Formula 1's Chinese Grand Prix grid after losing time in Turn 1.

Filip Cleeren

Published: Apr 20, 2024, 8:51 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

Alonso impressed in Shanghai by beating the McLaren and Ferrari cars to third in Q3, the best-of-the-rest spot behind the dominant Red Bulls of polesitter Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

But Alonso admitted that he considered aborting the final lap that pushed him up the grid after slipping up through the complex starting sequence of the Shanghai circuit, which made him lose a couple of tenths.

"In sector one I had a moment in Turn 1 and 2 and I nearly lost the car," Alonso said. "And then I said: 'Okay, I keep going or I abort the lap? Because I lost like two tenths in two corners. But we didn't give up, we kept pushing all through the lap and set a good lap time."

The Spaniard said his Aston Martin squad had used the re-opening of parc ferme, a new addition to the revised sprint weekend format, to make further car tweaks that he hopes will pay off in Sunday's grand prix.

But he conceded the ever-changing track conditions made some of those set-up changes a coin toss for the team.

"I think the car did improve since this morning, we made a few set-up changes. Let's see tomorrow if we can translate that into good points," he explained.

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

"You cannot change the car completely because you are into the rhythm of the weekend, but you can still make some small setup changes. Some of them are just for balance problems, but some of them are just guesses that you do into tomorrow's race and you flip the coin.

"Until tomorrow afternoon we will not know the answer, but I'm extremely happy, proud of the team. We are not giving up. We are not in the position we want yet but we keep pushing."

Alonso was also in contention for a top-three result in Saturday morning's sprint but retired after sustaining a puncture while fighting Ferrari's Carlos Sainz.

The incident landed him a 10-second post-race penalty, despite the two-time world champion already having exited the race.

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article F1 team-mates' qualifying battles: Chinese GP

Next article Hamilton blames wind for Q1 error in “knife-edge” Mercedes

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup 7 h

The ten closest finishes from the 2026 NASCAR season

‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1 8 h

‘Lewis suspected a conspiracy’ – Nico Rosberg explains how Lewis Hamilton F1 rivalry went awry at Mercedes

BMW "proud of what we achieved" after securing runner-up in 2026 WEC

WEC

WEC WEC

Monza

9 h

BMW "proud of what we achieved" after securing runner-up in 2026 WEC

The numbers that reveal how sprint races have turned the MotoGP title fight upside down

MotoGP

MGP MotoGP

Qatar GP

11 h

The numbers that reveal how sprint races have turned the MotoGP title fight upside down

Feature

Discover prime content

How seizing every chance – and making it happen – keeps Pierre Gasly’s fire burning

Formula 1

By Jake Boxall-Legge

How seizing every chance – and making it happen – keeps Pierre Gasly’s fire burning

Tough love and F1 titles – A key life lesson behind Wolff's Mercedes success

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Ronald Vording

Tough love and F1 titles – A key life lesson behind Wolff's Mercedes success

How Brazil showcased everything that's good about F1 - plus some that isn't

Formula 1

Sao Paulo GP

By Filip Cleeren

How Brazil showcased everything that's good about F1 - plus some that isn't

Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s

Formula 1

By Kevin Turner

Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts