Alonso pleased with McLaren pace after qualifying P11

Fernando Alonso declared that his starting position of P11 is "perfect". The McLaren driver just missed the cut in Q2 to make the final qualifying session but said that he was happy to be starting with a free selection of tyre choice that would give him the optimum strategy of a one-stop.

Speaking after qualifying, Alonso said that he felt that his pace was good and that he was expecting McLaren to be strong at the Marina Bay street circuit.

“It felt good. From our side we’ve been competitive the whole weekend, and as I said yesterday we were going to be in the battle for Q3.

“I wanted to start from the clean side of the track, so P11 is perfect. I’ll have Carlos alongside, as is usual, so hopefully we’ll both move forward and score good points for us.

“We have the possibility to choose the tyres for the start, so that’s an extra help to try and pass the two or three cars that will start ahead of us.”

Alonso went on to explain that he was happy to be starting eleventh due to the fact he would have a free selection when it came to tyres, a luxury he wouldn't have had if he had made it into Q3.

“It was important to avoid the Hypersoft for the race, but of course you always want to be in Q3. But if you’re tenth on the grid having to start with the Hypersofts then you know you’re in for a difficult Sunday,” he said.

“The Hypersoft gives you around 2.5s advantage in qualifying but suffers from very high degradation in the long runs and has a lot of graining. If you have to stop early and return to the track in traffic then your race is basically done.

“They will have to manage the degradation of the Hypersofts and I’m hoping we can make much longer runs with a harder compound. Nevertheless it’s going to be a very tight battle for the points, complicated.”