Performance director Aston Martin: 'Could fix car every time

Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix was a special one. The changeable conditions made for an unpredictable track, and many drivers went through the gravel. Fernando Alonso also sought the gravel pit, causing damage to his floor. According to Aston Martin performance director Tom McCullough, the Spaniard's mechanics worked well during qualifying, he told a press event attended by GPBlog.

Alonso went through the gravel several times during qualifying, leaving the mechanics hard at work: "The first run through the gravel track did a lot of damage.  We were able to, each time the car was in the garage, repair the car and actually slowly improve the car to the point that near the end of qualifying three we nearly got half of the deficit back from the data side of things."

'No bounce'

During the Formula 2 sprint race, the track was largely dry. Yet the track was not yet dry everywhere, causing Alonso to go through the gravel trap at the last corner in Q1. McCullough explains what happened: "It was obviously opening the first lap in qualy one and he went in and had a snap on the way in. So whether it was a little damp patch, poly, pushing a bit hard, it wasn't any bouncing."