Formula One news

Q1 knockout totally expected, says Alonso

The Renault team suffered a disappointing qualifying session at Yas Marina on Saturday as both Fernando Alonso and Romain Grosjean were eliminated at the earliest possible point ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.

With Grosjean having been off the track more than once on his way to the penultimate grid slot and Alonso the quickest of the first five to be eliminated, the Spaniard will start from Row 8 on his final weekend with the French marque with which he clinched his Drivers' titles of 2005 and 2006.

"That was totally expected," he told Spanish reporters. "We're at the back, have been very slow all weekend and were therefore out in Q1. The team knows that I've given it one-hundred percent during the seven seasons for which I've been here.

"We know that we probably have the worst car on the grid but are doing all we can. That's that. Reaching the points is almost impossible but we'll try."

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