Alonso hails 'one of the best first laps' ever

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Fernando Alonso was a man on the move at the start of Saturday's sprint race at Silverstone, the Alpine charger passing rivals left and right to jump from P11 to P5 on the event's opening lap.

Alonso had opted to start F1's first ever sprint qualifying on the soft tyre, a choice few had embraced.

But the Spaniard put the compound to good use at the outset, hailing one of the best opening laps of his career!

"I think the first lap was one of the best," Alonso said. "I know there are a lot of first laps before, like good ones… especially in the Renault days.

"But this one, not only into Turn 1, it was Turn 3, Turn 4, 6, 9 it was a more complete lap."

The two-time world champion tried his best to hold his own but eventually succumbed to the attacks of McLaren boys Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo. However, he valiantly resisted the assaults of his old rival Sebastian Vettel to ensure himself a P7 start on Sunday's grid.

But upholding his position in the pecking order on Sunday and scoring points will be a tall order according to the Alonso.

"Tomorrow, I don’t know, I think it’s going to be a long race," he said.

"We saw today blisters for many people already in 17 laps. Tomorrow it’s going to be a long race for everybody, quite warm as well.

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"In normal qualifying we were 11th, so [now] we start 7th. I’m not sure we’re the 7th fastest, I expect a difficult race. Let’s see, I’ll see what we can do to keep attacking.

"We had to fight a little bit with the McLarens. We gave up that fight in a way, they were too fast. We concentrated on Sebastian and P7 is better than P11, that’s what we achieved yesterday.

"We take that, but [we keep our] feet on the ground, we still have a very long race in front of us, cars behind us. We have the Ferrari, we have Sebastian, Checo, the points will be hard to take anyway."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.