Fernando Alonso could not hide his joy after feeling Aston Martin's strong performance during the qualifying round and securing the fifth starting position for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.

His team-mate, Lance Stroll, who recently recovered from an wrist injury, was even able to bring the second AMR23 car into the top ten Q3 in eighth starting position.

Alonso and Aston Martin continued their positive trend of strong performances since last week's pre-season test in Bahrain to three free practice sessions at the Bahrain International Circuit this weekend.

The two-time world champion will park his car behind two Red Bull and Ferrari cars for the opening race of tomorrow's season.

He even beat Mercedes duo George Russell and Lewis Hamilton who will start from P6 and P7.

"This is also an extraordinary result for the car we have today," said Alonso, quoted by Antara from the official Formula 1 website. "This is just the bottom line, the starting point of this project."

"(Everything is new), so we have a good platform that we can develop in the following weeks and in the next races."

Alonso's experience as the most senior racer on the grid has become a valuable asset for Aston Martin's team who has ambitions to become a serious challenger at the top.

The Spaniard was brought to Silverstone after two seasons to defend the Alpine team to replace retired Sebastian Vettel.

Meanwhile, Stroll quickly adapted to his new car after he spent three days of pre-season testing sessions due to an injury due to an accident while practicing bicycles.

The son of the Aston Martin team owner is very grateful to be back in the race and have had better car performance than last year.

"One week ago I lay in the hospital, couldn't move, couldn't walk, couldn't move both hands, many bones cracked, and I finished surgery 12 days ago," said Stroll.

"I didn't expect to be here, completing three sessions in qualifying, qualifying for Q3, and being here in general. I am very grateful to be here.

"I feel better every lap in this car, start to trust my body, and get used to this car."

"I didn't undergo the test last week, so I'm trying to find the rhythm and I'm more convinced of my body condition every time I go around, so it's great to be here and compete again."


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