“Another unfortunate race” for Fernando Alonso and Alpine

We had left a Fernando Alonso disappointed by his weekend in Australia where a mechanical problem in qualifying cost him a possible start on the front row before the Safety Car ruined his race strategy. The Spaniard did not have the opportunity to smile again in Imola. However, the weekend started with a good fifth place during the qualifying session on Friday. Saturday's sprint race was a cold shower for the French team, with Alonso unable to maintain his positions and ultimately finishing ninth, outside the points zone. Sunday did not improve the situation with an early retirement for the double world champion, the right pontoon of his car not resistant to impact with the wheel Mick Schumacher from the first meters of the event.

“Another unfortunate race for us this season, lamented Fernando Alonso after the race. We got off to a good start and moved up to eighth place, but the right side of my floor and my sidepod were badly damaged and we had no choice but to retire. It's unfortunate, because it was ultimately a small collision with Mick [Schumacher], completely unintentional, which destroyed our car and our race. After Australia, I felt like I could have scored 20 or 30 points already, and I only have two. It's unfortunate, but the season is long and there are still many points to score. » 

First race outside the points

At Alpine, the rainy weekend in Emilia-Romagna was not synonymous with a happy Grand Prix. Esteban Ocon was unable to save the accounts of the Normandy brand, stuck in the traffic of the second part of the peloton. His fight for points was all the more compromised as the Norman was penalized five seconds for an unsafe release on Lewis Hamilton.

“It was a frustrating race for us, at the end of which we did not score a single point, declared the Frenchman. My race was tricky from the start, the qualifying result having compromised the rest of my weekend. So when you think about it, the place we were in before the penalty was applied wasn't that bad. We lacked pace in race mode and even without this five-second penalty, we were not fast enough to hope to get into the points. The pit lane is very narrow, but we'll look at exactly what happened in tonight's debrief to see if it could have been avoided. We will learn from this and move on. I'm already looking forward to Miami. » 

For the first time in 2022, no drivers Alpine scored no points during this race weekend. The next meeting, on May 8 in Miami, will perhaps be an opportunity to regain a place in the top ten.

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