Fernando Alonso shares potential masterstroke that Aston Martin played in the 2023 F1 Qatar GP sprint

Fernando Alonso recently revealed that Aston Martin threw away the sprint race and are focused on the main race at the Losail International Circuit.

Speaking after the 2023 Qatar GP sprint round, the Spanish driver explained to the media, including Sportskeeda, that they are positive about being competitive in the race.

The Aston Martin driver completed the sprint race on a set of soft tyres as he saved the harder compounds for the main race. FIA have passed a mandate that the teams will be required to make three mandatory pit stops during the race, which could make it very interesting.

Asked about the difficulty of surviving the sprint on the soft tyre, Fernando Alonso said:

"Yeah, but we had to throw one race away, we throw this one. Not tomorrow."

Explaining the reason behind discarding the sprint race, Fernando Alonso felt one or two points in the sprint were not worth the 19-lap sprint race. The Spanish champion believes that the saved tyres will benefit them in the main race as there are more points to play for.

"Yeah, we’ll we don't know what will be the strategy tomorrow, so we don’t know. We have to cover all the scenarios and we had to throw away one race. We decided today starting P9 was just possible maybe 1-2 points was not worth the risk," he said.

Alonso was positive of a competitive result for the main race and displayed some competitive pace on the hard compounds in the free practice on Friday (October 6). The two-time champion crossed the finish line ninth but was promoted to eighth place after Charles Leclerc received a penalty.

---

Fernando Alonso believes that the 2023 Qatar GP weekend has been spectacular

With Red Bull driver Sergio Perez starting from the pit lane with a damaged car, his competitors Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton have had competitive results in the sprint.

The Brit is 29 points behind the Mexican, while the Spaniard is 18 points behind. Having clinched a podium in Qatar in 2021, the Spaniard is confident of utilising the opportunity.

Asked by Sportskeeda, if Red Bull being on the back foot made it a critical weekend to capitalise on, Fernando Alonso said that the weekend has been encouraging and he believes they are confident of scoring some substantial points. Finishing in the top 5 is the main aim as the Spanish champion starts fourth on the grid behind the Mercedes cars.

"The weekend has been spectacular so far. So I don't think we need to pray for points. We’ve been in the top 4 top 5 in every session, every lap with it. If we keep doing this job tomorrow, we’ll be in the top 5 at the end of the race. That will be the aim," he said.

With more pace on the car on the harder compounds, a podium is within reach for the Aston Martin driver.