Fernando Alonso suffered a disastrous end to qualifying at Monza, experiencing his fourth mechanical failure of the weekend at Ferrari’s home venue. The Spaniard, who was set to be helped to pole by team-mate Felipe Massa, encountered a broken rear anti-roll bar in the minutes leading up to Q3. He is left tenth on the grid.
The failure means Alonso will be in the midfield on the run to the infamous Rettifilo Chicane. Running a new chassis this weekend, after his previous one was destroyed in the first-corner chaos of Spa, he has already run into trouble with his engine, brakes and gearbox which resulted in lost practice time on Friday.
“Something broke on the car in Q3,” Alonso explained in the paddock. “We had no time to fix it so we went out just to check if we could gain some positions.
"It’s a shame because I think it could have been the easiest pole of the year for us, judging by the times in practice. We lost one big opportunity but there’s nothing we can do now, so the car will be fixed and we’ll try and be strong for there.”
His Team Principal was also gutted by the outcome.
“It seems like a mechanical failure with the rear anti-roll bar,” Stefano Domenicali told Sky Sports. “Very disappointing. It could have been a great qualifying for Fernando, but it’s good Felipe did a good job. It happened on the first lap of Q3. We knew the car was not good because Fernando understood the situation straight away, so it’s very unfortunate but that’s the way it is.”
The problem means Massa out-qualifies Alonso for the first time this season.
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  L. Hamilton | McLaren | 01:24.010 | 15 |
| 2. | J. Button | McLaren | 01:24.133 | 15 |
| 3. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 01:24.247 | 16 |
| 4. | P. di Resta | Force India | 01:24.304 | 17 |
| 5. | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | 01:24.540 | 14 |
| 6. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 01:24.802 | 22 |
| 7. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 01:24.833 | 15 |
| 8. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 01:24.855 | 18 |
| 9. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | 01:25.109 | 18 |
| 10. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 01:25.678 | 16 |
| Full results | ||||
| Fernando Alonso | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| More Fernando Alonso photos | |||
| Stefano Domenicali | |||
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| More Stefano Domenicali photos | |||
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