Alonso fears chances ruined by Q2 problem

The McLaren driver and his team had been showing promising form in practice, as the nature of the Hungaroring helped the Honda-powered package.

But Alonso's day came to an early finish when his car stopped on track during Q2.

Alonso got out of the car and pushed his car back into the pits, but it was all in vain.

The Spaniard will start from 15th position, one place ahead of teammate Jenson Button, who was knocked out in Q1.

"I think around 12th or 13th would have been possible because the lap was pretty bad and we were 14th, so I think a couple of positions were possible," said Alonso.

"Here in Hungary, like with urban circuits, the race is almost over on Saturday because it's very hard to overtake, so starting from 15th and from the dirty side is all the problems combined.

"It's the wrong time and the wrong moment [for this to happen]. I've been in the top 10 most sessions so it's been a good weekend for the team so far.

"Jenson had a problem with the KERS and for me with the car switched off. Not the right time, but hopefully we learn for tomorrow."

Alonso said he pushed the car hoping he could still go out for another run, but was told the rules do not allow that unless the car reaches the pits on its own power.

"The car stopped twice during the lap. I didn't know if it could be fixed or not, but if the car doesn't reach the pits by itself you can't go back out. It was a bit in vain.

"Unfortunately when we arrived in the garage they told me we were not allowed to go out again because the rules say the car has to arrive by itself in the garage.

"A bit of a strange rule because we saw many times the car arriving on crane and starting the session again."

Team boss Eric Boullier said there were no reliability concerns because both Alonso's and Jenson Button's problems had been human errors.

"The concern is not so big because it is human errors in both cases. It was a software issue on JB's car and it was a connection coming loose on Fernando's car."