Alonso: “It was the best lap of my career in Suzuka”

The warmth of the Japanese public was not enough to help McLaren to give life to a qualification that is encouraging if nothing else. Slow and not free from errors in the garage, the Woking team was able to get through Q1 with only Alonso.

“It was probably the best lap of my career on this track – he declared Fernando, 16th and 14th – Even with another 100 sets of tires I wouldn't have been able to do more. It's frustrating to end up so far behind but this is our form. Unfortunately, there is no magic solution. In the race it won't be easy given that I have fast cars like Max Verstappen's Toro Rosso behind me. I will do everything to get into the points, even if the real goal is to see the finish line."

“If there had been no yellow flags I would have moved on to the second phase, furthermore from the wall they didn't tell me which setting to adopt so I chose the wrong one – explained Jenson Button, 12th and 16th – Overall the car wasn't bad but I wasn't able to get the most out of it. Here even a small smudge has important results. I expect a complicated race."

Chiara Rainis