Fernando Alonso left dejected after crash ruins ‘best weekend in years’ at Australian Grand Prix

The Spaniard’s qualifying crash in Melbourne was caused by a hydraulics failure

Fernando Alonso looked set to challenge for pole position in Australia (Getty Images)

Fernando Alonso was dejected after qualifying for the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix on Saturday morning in Melbourne, where a hydraulics failure caused a crash which cost him a shot at a first pole position in almost a decade.

The Alpine team have been midfield runners since Alonso returned to the sport at the beginning of the 2021 campaign following a two-year sabbatical, and seemed to have slotted into the a similar position in the running order at the start of this season, despite F1’s biggest regulation change in a generation bumping some teams up the grid while others have dropped down.

Since arriving in Australia, though, Alonso had shown supreme pace and the Alpine seemed capable of challenging for at the very front of the pack. The 40-year-old sailed through to Q3 and had set the fastest middle sector of anybody on his first flying lap, before he was unable to shift down the gears on entry to Turn 11 and hit the barrier after skipping along the gravel trap.

“I think it’s something hydraulic because I could not change gear and the steering became very heavy, so we seemed to lose the power steering,” he told Sky Sports F1.

Alonso is one of the most talented racers to have ever driven in Formula 1, but won his two world championships way back in 2005 and 2006 and hasn’t driven a car capable of challenging for race victories since 2013.

His most recent win came with Ferrari at his home grand prix in Barcelona nine years ago, while the last of his 22 pole positions came at the 2012 German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

The former Renault and McLaren driver says that while pole was an outside possibility at Albert Park on Saturday, he was very confident of qualifying in the top three at the minimum.

“I don’t know if we could fight for pole but for sure top three,” Alonso added. “We had two sets of new tyres because we saved them. It is so frustrating. I don’t know [what caused the issue] and honestly right now I don’t care, I was doing my best weekend in years, so now whatever it is we will take it.”

The Australian Grand Prix will begin on Sunday 10 April at 6am in the UK.