Fernando Alonso has been in scintillating form in recent races and his results in Baku and Monaco bear witness to that. That said, no one would have expected the Spanish veteran to drag the Alpine to the front row of the 2022 Canadian F1 GP starting grid.

Fernando Alonso also seemed to master the wet conditions in FP3, finishing the session in P1. The Alpine driver, however, maintained that form in qualifying and secured a top spot against challengers Mercedes and Ferrari, taking everyone by surprise. Asked by the press if he had done anything different to the car, the Spaniard said:

“This weekend, I don’t know… the car was good straight away. We didn’t make huge set-up changes, we didn’t experiment too much because the car felt good from the first laps of FP1, which helped build confidence. It is also a circuit in which I think you need rhythm. You use a lot of sidewalks here and it’s quite bumpy.

The 40-year-old claimed it was his experience around the track that made the difference, saying:

“There are some things that, you know, have been there for many, many years. And I guess for half the grid it’s either the first time they’ve been here or the second time because after the pandemic there weren’t a lot of races held here in Canada. So I don’t know, I’ve been racing here for 16 or 17 years so like I’ve always said, age and experience always helps, it’s never a disadvantage.

Starting in the front row doesn’t mean much: Fernando Alonso

The 2022 Canadian F1 GP will mark the first start from the front row for Fernando Alonso since pole in the 2012 German F1 GP of his Ferrari era. Although securing a start at the front of the field, that too a decade later, could matter for a driver, the Spaniard thinks otherwise.

Fernando Alonso claimed that this top-row start didn’t matter “much” to his run and his career as a whole, saying:

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“The importance of the first row? Yeah, I mean, it doesn’t mean much. I know what I am capable of. Sometimes I do a better job, sometimes not so good and I try to improve myself. I’ve worked a lot the last two years but yeah, I mean, it feels good, but it doesn’t mean anything. The race is tomorrow so we have to have a good race tomorrow.

Alonso will start the main race alongside reigning world champion Max Verstappen. While a front start is an advantage, it would be interesting to see what results he can get out of it.