Decidedly, the AMR23 model is perfectly suited to Aston Martin drivers. On Saturday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso both qualified in the top five for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
The Quebecer easily got through the first and second qualifying sessions and posted a time of 1 min 28.945 s., his best of the day, in Q3 to take fifth place on the grid.
After a surprising podium finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix, his teammate Alonso added to that by finishing second in qualifying with a time of 1:28.730.
Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc was quicker than the Spaniard and the Canadian, but fell back to 12th place due to a penalty.
At the end of the day, Alonso and Stroll were obviously inhabited by the feeling of accomplishment.
“The team delivered an excellent performance in qualifying and we put ourselves in a very good position to fight for points on Sunday, launched the Montrealer, whose remarks were taken up by the website of his team.
“We weren’t convinced that the cars were going to be as fast on the Jeddah circuit as they were in Bahrain, but I felt good and we were able to push our limits during the day.”
Aston Martin manager Mike Krack was delighted with the performance of his flock.
“It gives us a great opportunity and confidence for Sunday. […] We will continue to give everything we have to duplicate these results during the race.
“We expect a very close race with the teams around us. It’s usually an intense race here, which is often punctuated by twists and turns. You have to adapt quickly and avoid mistakes.”
The green single-seaters notably took advantage of the bad luck of Max Verstappen to fit into the first three rows on the grid. The Dutchman, big favorite to clinch pole position, was relegated to 15th after experiencing engine trouble in Q2.
The other representative of Red Bull, Sergio Pérez, did not miss his chance. He will lead the peloton when the start is launched.
