"Whatever the conditions are we should be confident that we can score points," says Alonso after both McLarens make Q3
Saturday 23 July 2016 19:53, UK
Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button are confident McLaren can stand their ground in the battle behind the top teams in the Hungarian GP after claiming their first double Q3 result since reuniting with Honda.
The former world champions will line up on the fourth row on the grid after strong form in practice translated into qualifying, despite the mixed conditions which made the elongated session unpredictable.
Although Alonso spun on the final lap to trigger the late red flag which inadvertently cost numerous drivers, including himself, the chance to improve their positions, he believes they can enjoy a strong race from seventh and eighth,
"Probably rain will help us, we seem a little bit more competitive in wet conditions," Alonso said. "But this weekend we are also competitive in dry conditions. It's not like Baku or some of the circuits where we were not in the points and were hoping for something strange happening.
"Whatever the conditions are [in the race] we should be confident that we can score points and hopefully, as last year, we can be both cars on the points and help the team on that aspect."
The McLaren pair were pipped to sixth by Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz, but Button expects the team to be fighting with the Spaniard and the Force India and Williams cars directly behind on Sunday.
"The top five cars are going to disappear, wet or dry, I think, so the fight is really from sixth back," Button said. "If it's wet, it always makes it exciting and you've got to think on your feet - which I think as a team we're good as doing, and us two as well.
"But in the dry our pace has been reasonably good, in the long runs as well. It's going to be a good fight I think from where we are on the grid."
Alonso, meanwhile, rebuked himself for the spin which cost him any chance of beating Sainz to sixth.
"I made mistakes in a couple of corners already in that lap, so I was not happy with the start of the lap and I overdrove probably a little bit too much, some frustration as well in the last couple of corners, and I made a mistake, making a spin and unfortunately missing that lap," he explained.
"It was possible to improve a lot the lap time we set before. The only thing is that probably everyone improved the lap time, so I don't know if the final position could have been better, the same or worse. So it wasn't only us.
"But a little bit sad because of this and disappointment with myself, but at the end of the day I've been seventh every single session this weekend - P1, P2, P3 and qualifying - so hopefully tomorrow we can improve that position and score some points."
