Wind costs Alonso at home

"The main factor this afternoon was the wind," said Alonso. "It was gusting very strongly while I was on the circuit, but most importantly it was very inconsistent. Sometimes it was a tailwind, sometimes a headwind. It made it difficult to have confidence in the car's reactions.The car was changing at every corner.

"It will be a tough race from eighth, but the R24 is competitive in race trim and I am hoping to run a strong race for my fans tomorrow."

Alonso achieved superstar status with his drive to second place in last year's edition of this race, but will be hard-pressed to perform the feat again. Trulli is more likely to do so, though the wind did not escape his attention either.

"The conditions today were extremely difficult," said the Italian. "The wind really affected all the drivers. The handling was hard to judge. It's a shame that we couldn't make it into the top three, but I am still pleased with my best qualifying performance of the year."

Renault Executive Director of Engineering Pat Symonds agreed that Alonso was particularly unlucky with the wind: "Our data indicates it was a good lap, but the gusty conditions were near their peak at that time and he found the car was even moving about on the straight."