Alonso Frustrated by Lack of Pace

Renault's runaway Championship leader Alonso ran slightly wide at the last corner, kicking up dust, to qualify on the third row of the grid.

The Spaniard's title rival, Kimi Raikkonen, was fourth in his McLaren despite being the first man to complete his flying lap.

Alonso, who claimed ahead of the weekend that Hungary was one of the places where Renault could be capable of beating McLaren, was frustrated by the result.

"It is frustrating to be P6 and P9, but we have not quite been competitive all weekend," said Alonso. "We didn't manage to dial the understeer out of the car for qualifying, so the balance was not perfect, and I had a few moments round the lap.

"The one that really cost me time was in the last corner, where I got a bit off line and the car began understeering. I ended up in the grass on the exit and that definitely cost me positions.

"It is particularly disappointing to qualify badly here because overtaking is very hard - the only opportunities will be at the pitstops and the start. We will be concentrating on those areas tonight so that we can make the most of our situation tomorrow."

Renault's poor day was completed by Giancarlo Fisichella's ninth place, the Italian driver claiming he had been too conservative during his flying lap.

"I had a clean lap, but I think I was too conservative in the final sector - and it clearly cost me time," said the Italian. "Ninth is not a great position, but in reality we have been struggling a bit to get the car working well at this circuit.

"Looking to tomorrow, I think we have a good strategy, so hopefully we can use that to overtake people at the stops and we had very good starts in Hockenheim, which should help us gain some positions too."