On his second flying lap in a wet Q3, Alonso set the fastest middle sector and was set to overhaul Nico Hulkenberg's surprise effort for second place, but was denied the chance to complete his lap when Oscar Piastri hit the wall at Turn 7.
This produced a red flag, that Alonso caught just as he was leaving the chicane before the start-finish straight, forcing him to abort his run late on.
The Spaniard rued his apparent bad luck, also noting that he was moments away from setting a lap in Q1 before a red flag was waved when Zhou Guanyu's Alfa Romeo stopped in the opening part of the session.
"We've been unlucky generally with the red flags today and in Q1 also - I think it was one second to see the line and then the red flag came just in that moment. In Q3, it was I think four seconds before the crossing the line to be in the first row," Alonso said.
"I mean, we take it and I'm extremely happy [to be third] because it was a very complex qualifying to execute and you need constant communication with the team.
"Sometimes you feel things on the car, but then on TV or in the pitlane, there are different ideas. So you need that feedback with the engineer and the driver. It was a difficult day, but we have a strong chance [on Sunday] to score many points, so I'm happy now."
Source: Autosport