F1 | McLaren, Alonso: “Better to finish eleventh with tires of your choice than tenth with HyperSoft”

Just like yesterday, today too McLaren experienced a chiaroscuro day. Alonso finished in eleventh place, on the threshold of Q3, while Vandoorne did not go beyond eighteenth position, placing only the two Williams behind. The two drivers of the Woking team loudly invoke the Safety Car, which has so far been used in all editions of the Singapore Grand Prix. Although the declared objective was the top ten, Alonso is still satisfied with his eleventh position on the starting grid.

“We were competitive all weekend and this qualifying result is good – admits Alonso. We're back to our normal competitiveness and I'm happy about it. We knew we were at the limit of the Q3 cut, but starting the race from ninth or tenth place on the HyperSofts could have been a disadvantage, given that these tires have a lot of degradation on long runs. So I prefer eleventh place with a free choice of tyres, hopefully we can take advantage of that. If we had been able to finish fifth or sixth, then it would have been better to get to Q3. In ten years of racing in Singapore there has always been the Safety Car, and therefore we must be ready to seize any opportunity. It will be a long and demanding race, we have to stay focused and fight for points, but the main thing will be to get to the finish line. In terms of reliability we haven't been too strong lately, we need to reverse this trend."

It went decidedly worse Stoffel vandoorne: “My last run with new tires was disastrous, I may have hit the wall four times. We should have been in Q2, which was a shame because my pace was constantly improving. I think the car is ok, good for tomorrow. I tried to squeeze all the potential out of my McLaren, but when the tires get too hot the lap time doesn't arrive. In the race I usually make a positive step compared to qualifying, but here it is very difficult to overtake, so we will have to make a good strategy. It will be interesting to see what others do with the HyperSofts, how long they can make them last. In this respect we have a free choice of tyres, and we will be able to play a bit. Anything can happen in Singapore, there is a 100% possibility that the Safety Car will come out and I think it will also make its appearance on the track tomorrow."