Otmar Szafnauer: ‘Fernando Alonso’s experience and skill shone through’

Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer hailed Fernando Alonso after the Spaniard produced arguably one of the performances of his career to earn P2 in qualifying.

The two-time World Champion excelled in the wet conditions and only Max Verstappen could claim to have been better than the 40-year-old.

It represents Alonso’s first top-two start since 2012 and his first in the top three since Brazil in 2013.

Speaking after the session, a delighted Szafnauer described it as the best qualifying performance of his time with Alpine and praised Alonso for his ability to adapt quickly.

“That was the best qualifying yet for me at Alpine. Absolutely brilliant,” Szafnauer told Sky Sports F1.

“We had good pace here all weekend, we had decent pace in Baku too so we keep working on the car, but for sure Fernando’s experience and skill shone through today and put it on the front row.

“He’s always been really, really good at adapting very quickly so he’s always on the pace very quickly…