01/12/2024
NEWS STORY
Fernando Alonso: "A very good Sunday for us finishing in seventh and with six points scored.
"The car felt a little stronger than yesterday and we capitalised on some of the action ahead of us with some retirements and penalties, but we were in the right place at the right time tonight. It's a good time to get some points on the board for the team and hopefully we can carry this form into Abu Dhabi and finish the season on a high there."
Lance Stroll: "The car wasn't feeling right from the start of the race. I locked the front left at Turn 2 which was strange because it's not really a corner you brake that much for. Then at Turn 5 I made contact with Alex [Albon] which was completely unintentional. I wasn't trying to race him; I was just trying to hold my line on the inside of the corner, but I picked up huge levels of understeer. I think maybe my tyres weren't working properly because I couldn't do anything about it. It's a shame to retire from the race but we'll go again in Abu Dhabi next weekend."
Mike Krack, Team Principal: "An action-packed Qatar Grand Prix where we scored six important points with a strong seventh place for Fernando. It was a race where our patience paid off with good strategy. It is such a shame that Lance was forced to retire early because he surely would have scored points as well. Lance's car got caught up in the busy first lap battles and there was contact with Alex Albon, which looked to be a racing incident from our perspective. Lance reported feeling something strange with the car, which was impacting performance, and we retired the car soon after that. It's onwards now to Abu Dhabi, the final race of the season, where we will look to score more points and end the year on a high note."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Qatar here.