The Red Bull driver made a successful swoop for pole in the dying stages of Q3 to deny Alonso the chance of a first F1 pole since 2012, using the final corners to overturn a deficit of two tenths accrued in the opening pair of sectors.
Thanks to the vastly improved form of the Aston Martin team in 2023, Alonso has been able to consistently run at the front after years of struggling with sub-optimal machinery either side of his two-year break from the championship across 2019 and 2020.
