Aston Martin plagued by DRS problems: 'Cost us a few tenths'

Alonso is having a particularly good season so far, but that was not reflected in his qualifying results for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The Spaniard picked up the sixth time, which is his worst result in a qualifying session this season.

"I think we could have been a little bit better," reflected Alonso. "We had some issues in FP1 and also in qualifying with the DRS, which cost us a few tenths. Being so tight, I think in the standings it will make a difference. But, nevertheless, it's only Friday. It's a long weekend ahead of us. There are still plenty of opportunities so hopefully we can pick up a few places."

Alonso and Stroll receive praise from team boss

Alonso is not the only one who was plagued by problems: his teammate Lance Stroll had to make do with ninth place after setting a time that matched Oscar Piastri's exactly. Stroll too had visible problems with the DRS system.

"Both Fernando and Lance did well under challenging circumstances today," team boss Mike Krack praised both his drivers. "The single practice session was quite straightforward but, going into qualifying, we experienced an ongoing DRS issue across both cars, which meant it was only working intermittently. Despite this costing us some performance, we progressed to Q3 quite comfortably and the team and drivers did a good job. We had the potential to be a bit higher up the grid, but I think we are well placed to fight for points on Sunday."