Alonso says he could have done better

The Spaniard, who had qualified in second place in the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks ago, warned not to forget where the French squad were before the Barcelona race.

"Today we made it easily into Q3 and so I will start the race in seventh place, which is more or less where we expected to be, although I think that we could have done a little better," said Alonso, who retired from the Spanish race with an engine failure.

"For tomorrow, the start of the race will be vital, but I think that we should be able to fight for some points. It's important not to forget where we were just two races ago. We are moving forward, that is for certain."

Teammate Nelsinho Piquet endured a difficult day after failing to make it past Q1, the Brazilian having to settle for 17th position.

"I am extremely disappointed today after my performance in qualifying," he said. "I finished in 17th while my teammate progressed comfortably into Q3. So it's not going to be an easy race tomorrow, but I will give my maximum to try and recover.

"I will work hard with my engineers this evening so that we can try and improve for tomorrow and for the races to come. After that it will be down to me to do what I can on the track during the race."