Qualifying report: Indy 500 "It's a difficult moment for the team but we must remain calm and focused"
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday 18 May
| Qualifications Day: 1 | Top speed: 227.224MPH | Position: 31st |
McLaren Racing finished 31st in today’s qualifying sessions for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500. After a promising start to the day in practice, Fernando suffered a right rear puncture on his first qualifying run resulting in an average speed of 225.113mph.
The team then reset for a series of further attempts in the afternoon, which resulted in Fernando posting a best average speed of 227.224mph. Fernando missed out on a place in the top 30 in the final moments of the session, meaning he and the team will contest the last row shootout tomorrow, Sunday May 19 between 12.15 and 13.15 ET.
FERNANDO ALONSO, #66
"It has been a difficult day, and it follows a difficult week. We were running quite well this morning when the conditions were not too bad, but unfortunately we picked up a rear puncture and then we decided to wait until this afternoon to get back out on track when track conditions were slightly better.
"At the end of the day, we didn’t have the pace and the final time we posted wasn’t enough to be in the top 30, so we must try again tomorrow to qualify and we’ll need to execute the four laps as well as possible, clean and with no mistakes. It’s a difficult moment for the team but we must remain calm and focused and I hope we can find enough to make the top three positions of the six tomorrow."
GIL DE FERRAN, Sporting Director
"This has been a difficult and stressful day for everyone in the team. We had a puncture during our first run, which meant we posted an uncompetitive time so we knew we had to get back out. Unfortunately we just couldn’t find enough speed in the afternoon to get in the show today.
"Praise must go to Fernando who had to contend with numerous attempts in a machine that was handling difficultly. We have to regroup tonight and do our utmost to put our best foot forward tomorrow and get into the race."
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