Fernando Alonso qualified third today. Although it's not his best position of the year he thinks that in terms of raw performance it is: "I think that was the best qualifying of the year in performance terms. It's true that the actual result was better in Canada - second – but I was further off pole position than I am today. Furthermore, we are at a circuit that definitely does not suit the characteristics of our car and to be just over a tenth off first is a great sign."

"The new parts we introduced here worked well and I think that tomorrow, we can put those who start in front of us under a bit of pressure," said Alonso. "The team has done so much work and this step forward is down to them. We have also made progress in the way we manage the tyres: from what we could see in the few dry laps we did today, we can even make the Hard tyre work, while back in Barcelona they lost us a lap in less than half a race distance."

The Spaniard reckons that tyre performance will be a major issue tomorrow: "Tyre performance will be very important tomorrow, whether as forecast it's dry, or wet, which can always ambush you here. We will have to be ready for any eventuality: it will be important to get a good start, which constitutes the only really new element at this track compared to the past. Am I hoping for rain? No, especially for the fans who have already got wet for the past two days. Let's hope we can put on a great show for this very large crowd."