Alonso's 'painful' Imola qualifying due to 'hidden problem'

Fernando Alonso described his Saturday at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as "painful" after a "hidden problem" cost him in qualifying. 

Alonso crashed at Rivazza during FP3, with the team facing a race against time to repair the AMR24, with Alonso making it out on track in Q1. 

However, he skated through the gravel at Tamburello and was forced to abort a later lap as he initially qualified 20th and slowest of all, although Logan Sargeant later lost his lap for track limits, promoting Alonso to 19th. 

Breaking down his tough day on a weekend Aston's upgrades have not worked as hoped, Alonso the "hidden problem" that curtailed his running.

"Exactly, it was one of those days where everything went wrong, starting in FP3 obviously with the crash and the mechanics did a good job to make everything ready for Q1," Alonso explained when asked by RacingNews365 to sum his day up. 

"In Q1, it was a combination of things to be honest, we started with fuel for the whole session, just to give me some laps of practice, preparing the pitstops.

"I set the lap-time at the beginning when the car was heavy on fuel and when the car was light at the end, we put the last set of tyres on, but I had to box for an unknown problem.

"[The team] called me to box, so it was quite painful. I asked three or four times if they were sure, but yeah, I am sorry for the mechanics as they deserve better after the job they have done, but it was one of those days where everything goes wrong.

The nature of Imola

The Imola weekend has been impacted by multiple drivers skating through the gravel, especially at Turns 17 and 18 where Alonso went off in FP3. 

Wind conditions have been indicated as a factor, as Alonso also referred to the size of the cars and the nature of Imola.

"Probably the modern cars are quite tricky and more on the edge when you put the downforce on and Imola is quite bumpy as well," he said.

"It is one of those circuits that is a little bit out-dated, let's say in terms of running these big wide cars so low on the ground. 

"But it is the same for everybody and it offers different challenges in terms of set-up and you can go in different directions so it is good to have a mix in the championship."