Alonso reacts cynically after yet another FIA punishment

Fernando Alonso may make another bid for points in the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday from P3. He was close in the sprint race earlier on Saturday, but he fell all the way back after a touch and even parked his AMR24 in the pit box for a lap before the flag dropped. To make matters worse, he received a 10-second time penalty and three penalty points on his licence. He completely disagreed with that.

"It was very good, but not perfect," Alonso analysed his own qualifying. That he ended up with the third time, is encouraging according to the former world champion. "These kinds of laps and moments are very encouraging for the future. I am happy for the team, proud of them all. We never give up."

"[I'm] happy with qualifying and these kinds of laps and moments are very encouraging for the future, happy for the team, proud of all of them. We never give up, we are not in a strong position yet, especially on race conditions, we are still maybe fourth fastest team but we're still fighting to be better and better, today's been a great day for me and I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope this result this shows that," said the 42-year-old driver.

Alonso expects tough race

Alonso will do everything he can to defend his podium, but it won't be easy. "I expect a difficult race I think we are slower than the Ferraris, slower than the McLarens, and probably slower than the Mercedes and we are out qualifying them often and then in the race we just need to wait and see when they come, how fast they come and how many laps we can defend those positions."

Alonso also made a comment on the penalty he received from the stewards. "I would not agree with [penalty], but they have all the power to do what they think is right and then we have to accept it and move on."