But Alonso said he expected McLaren to be on top in qualifying on Saturday.
The seven-time champion finished fifth after starting from last following his controversial actions in qualifying.
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"For sure the performance in qualifying was not up to our standard, " he said.
But Mervyn Luckwell went out of the javelin with a throw of 66.30m in qualifying.
Javelin star Goldie Sayers failed to reach the final after only managing 58.98m in qualifying.
The general rule in qualifying is to win home games and pick up points on the road.
The 22-year-old lost in qualifying but earned a bye into the second round when Serena Williams withdrew injured.
That positioning was a result of the very small but decisive pace advantage of Button's Brawn in qualifying.
"Felipe was very unlucky, both in the race and in qualifying, " read a statement on Ferrari's official website.
Defending world champion, Sebastian Vettel finished fifth in qualifying while his compatriot, Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg is sixth.
"I feel happy, very happy with how things went in qualifying, " added Alonso.
Portugal are currently third in qualifying Group One, two points behind second-placed Sweden.
Van Gaal will be looking to correct that in qualifying for the next World Cup in Brazil in 2014.
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That was 16th-best overall in qualifying heats, in which Belgium's Jonathan Borlee posted the best mark of 44.43 seconds.
Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was quickest in both Thursday practice sessions, but the Spaniard expects a hard fight in qualifying.
"This is one of the competitions that will tick the right boxes in qualifying for Super league, " he said.
Now, we don't have that margin people are getting past us in qualifying.
Given my difficulties in qualifying, it would have been easy for them to compound this problem, adding additional pressure.
New Zealand were just under a second slower than the British in qualifying.
Australia had clocked the fastest time in qualifying to stake their claim for a first gold of the five-day championships.
Massa's performance was arguably even better than Alonso's, as he started from ninth due to a grid penalty in qualifying.
"The true performance came out in qualifying and in the first one or two laps in the race, " he added.
The Spaniard did not try to hide his satisfaction after pushing Red Bull to the limit in qualifying at Hockenheim.
The Finn was pretty quiet in qualifying but is likely to be running with more fuel on board than Massa.
An engine change and a subsequent oil leak hampered his practice on Saturday and stopped him going out in qualifying.
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In qualifying for the 125cc race, Bradley Smith came second behind championship leader Julian Simon, with Marc Marquez in third place.
Button's McLaren started fourth on the grid, as Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel set the pace in qualifying to claim pole position.
That's not hugely important at Monaco but I think it did allow them to use their tyres more flexibly in qualifying.
Rossi only managed four laps in free practice on Friday and went round slowly in qualifying before going off to rest.
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The 39-year-old, who was third in qualifying, recorded the second-fastest lap in the minor series event at the Misano circuit in Italy.
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