"It was a nice surprise": Fernando Alonso reflects on qualifying in the 2024 F1 Bahrain GP

Aston Martin F1 driver Fernando Alonso has said that the Bahrain GP qualifying session was a "nice surprise" as he finished P6 ahead of the McLarens and Lewis Hamilton.

The Silverstone-based team has been one of the most underrated so far after the pre-season testing and three practice sessions at the Sakhir International Circuit. They have quietly gone about their business but their true performance had been tough to predict.

Speaking to the media including Sportskeeda, Fernando Alonso admitted that he was "surprised" by the competitiveness of the the AMR24 as he finished just a tenth off the front row. He said:

"Extremely, I think it was a nice surprise to find ourselves competitive. After winter testing, we had some doubts in terms of the one-lap pace. Free Practice was a different car this weekend, we felt more competitive. But normally we run maybe more engines or less fuel or whatever, and we find reality sometimes in qualifying.

"So we were very cautious in qualifying about our possibilities. And we found ourselves quite competitive in Q1 and Q2 and then in Q3. Now we are in the mix. We are together with a Ferrari, in front of Hamilton, together with the McLarens, so it's a massive surprise and extremely happy."

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Fernando Alonso cautious about his chances heading into the main race on Saturday

Fernando Alonso has said that he was unsure about the race pace of the car as he had some "so-so" long runs during the winter testing last week.

He also pointed out that the long-run pace did not look good in the FP2 as well. The Spaniard said:

"Let's see, I think we had so-so runs in winter [testing]," Alonso said. "And also yesterday, we didn't look particularly good. But let's see tomorrow, it's going to be an extremely tight race. Racing in a group of cars is never an easy thing to manage in terms of tires and things like that, so let's see how we deal with those problems.

"But I don't know, I think it's a very, very good start, a little bit unexpected, but we take it. We learned a lot of things last year as a team, how to be a contender for big things. If we want to compete with Ferrari and Mercedes and these teams, we need to raise the level of development throughout the season."

It will be fascinating to see if Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin can find themselves fighting for the podiums with their rivals alongside them.