Alpine driver Fernando Alonso said that he could have qualified even higher than P7 for the British Grand Prix.

The Spaniard must have been dreaming of a second-straight front-row start with the heavens opening in time for qualifying yesterday afternoon at Silverstone, and at one point in Q3 he was over three seconds quicker than anyone else, having made use of the ever-changing conditions.

Eventually, though, as the times came down he was overhauled and would post the seventh-quickest lap, though he said post-session that he could well have been higher up the grid had he been able to get his timings right over being one of the last to set a flying lap and with a full battery:

"There was more to come today but unfortunately we didn't use it in Q3.

"The first lap we were first but obviously you need to start timing to cross the line as late as possible but with the battery full but we didn't have that much margin so we had to push and we didn't have a full battery - we lost maybe a couple of places because of that."

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 02: Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) Alpine F1 A522 Renault on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone on July 02, 2022 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Even so, Alonso did go on to concede that in terms of race pace the Alpine is never going to challenge for the win in normal conditions and that P7 is about where the car is in that respect, with him adding:

"In the end P7 is where we will be fighting [during the race] so it's okay."

Even so, Alonso will undoubtedly be full throttle at lights out this afternoon, and if he can get past a few of the quicker cars in front of him and make their life difficult, he absolutely will.