'Not my best day,' says Alonso after worst qualifying in Aston Martin colours

Two-time champion Fernando Alonso was apologetic on Saturday after qualifying eighth for Aston Martin for his home Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.

Though his original position was ninth, he inherited eighth after Alpine's Pierre Gasly was hit with two three-place grid penalties, dropping him from fourth to tenth on the starting grid

For Alonso, the 41-year-old Spaniard went off in session one into a gravel trap and damaged his car, a setback that affected him for the rest of the qualifying hour.

"It wasn't my best day," he admitted. "And I am sorry for the team and for the fans, but (today) is the race and we will give it all we've got."

Teammate Lance Stroll ended his recent struggles by qualifying sixth, the first time he has out-qualified Alonso this season.

Competitive lap, but not enough

"The damage was a couple of tenths, no more than that," said Alonso, who harbours hopes of claiming a sixth podium finish of the season in his home event.

"And the guys did a good job trying to repair it every time we went to the garage.

"My last lap in Q3 was quite competitive, but I went on to the damp part in Turn 10 so it was not my best Saturday.

"And maybe a podium is too far away, starting in (P8), but the top five is something we should target. We have good pace and good degradation.

"So, let's see. With the new layout of the circuit - let's see what we can do."

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Stroll said his session was "fun" adding that qualifying at the Circuit de Catalunya "is always exciting".

"I think it's going to be a tough race tomorrow," he said. "With a lot of tyre management. I think it's going to be about strategy."

He added that the session had shown how competitive it