Fernando Alonso has qualified fifth for next weekend’s Indy 500 in what has proven to be a successful week of practice and qualifying for the rookie.
During his qualifying run, the Spaniard achieved an average of 231.300 mph around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This puts him behind Japan’s Takuma Sato in fourth, former F1 driver and last year’s winner Alexander Rossi in third, Ed Carpenter in second and New Zealand’s Scott Dixon who claimed pole with a 232.164 mph average.
Speaking to the BBC after his impressive qualifying result, Alonso said he encountered some minor engine issues during his run but was happy with the result.
“I think the car was better than yesterday. We had an over-boost problem (with the turbocharger) in the final corner, so the engine was like hitting the brakes and I lost a bit,” he said, claiming the problem could have cost him 0.3-0.4 mph on his average speed.
Alonso will miss next week’s Monaco Grand Prix to compete at the Indy 500 and return to F1 at the Canadian Grand Prix in June.