Fernando Alonso took an ‘uncomfortable level of risk’ for P5 in Japan

Fernando Alonso says he took an “uncomfortable” level of risk in order to secure his fifth-place starting slot at the F1 Japanese Grand Prix.

The Aston Martin driver claimed fifth with a brilliant lap in qualifying at Suzuka as he ended up within half a second of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who grabbed pole for the fourth straight race. 

Two-time world champion Alonso was pleased with his effort, believing he had “squeezed every tenth” out of his AMR24.

“Extremely happy. There is not much left on the car today. It seems that we squeezed every tenth of a second out there,” the Spaniard said.

“The last two runs in Q3 was a little bit on, let’s say an uncomfortable level of risking. It didn’t work in Australia for example in Q3, I went off in Turn 6.

“When you drive at that limit, it’s just a little bit of luck as well that you complete the lap. But today everything was fine. Happy with P5.

“Six months ago we were here in Suzuka, 1.5 seconds off pole position. We are four tenths [away] today. So definitely we are making big steps forward.”

After running Aston Martin’s previous AMR24 package during Friday, Alonso switched to the upgraded-spec - featuring a Red Bull-like sidepod design and floor changes - for qualifying.

“It did help for sure,” he said. “Difficult to quantify. I think it’s more for the team now to analyse. Yesterday I had the old package, today the new package and they have all the data.

“The problem in F1 is when you get a new step forward you are just waiting for the next one. It is never enough. This is an unlimited search for performance.”

However, Alonso doubts he will be able to hold onto his position in Sunday’s grand prix.

"Looking back at the first three races, we are very strong in Saturday, [but] not so strong on Sunday, we are maybe out of position to be in top five," he said.

"If I get overtaken by Oscar and the two Mercedes or something like that, I think or I will guess this is normal - and we will fall back to our position.

"Let's see what we can do. I'm very open to whatever the race brings to us. I'm extremely proud and happy of today's job and tomorrow is another day."