Fernando Alonso was left to rue more misfortune after retiring early from the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix with damage.
A large hole appeared in his right-hand sidepod following contact with Mick Schumacher on the first lap. Alonso was surprised at the extent of the damage, relative to the contact.“I didn’t feel much, obviously it was a very, very small touch with Mick,” he said. “I only saw on the replay and obviously that was enough to destroy my car.
“I think there are a lot of unlucky moments so far for me in the championship, out of my hands or my control, and this is another example,” he said.
“I prefer to finish the season better than start it good and then finish it bad,” he added. “So if you want to choose one way, it’s the other way around and finish on a better performance.
“But at the same time obviously when you see the races on TV, and I’ve been seeing too many at the moment in the first four, to have only two points in the championship, while I should have maybe 25 or 30, that’s painful.”
It is the latest setback for Alonso who hasn’t scored since the first race of the season.
“Everyone will agree that we’ve been very unlucky. We have some reliability issues. We had this problem in Australia qualifying.
“Today everyone is touching each other on the start and nothing happened. Their car seems unbreakable, but our car, it’s just a small kiss from Mick and is completely destroyed.”
“But let’s see, there’s still 19 races to go,” he added. “I remember last year after Imola, I had only one point and the season was a bit rough at that point and then we ended it in a high, the championship and quite competitive. So let’s see if this year we can do the same.”
Alonso was the only one of the two Alpine drivers running the team’s new floor. He said losing the opportunity to run it throughout a race will deprive the team of valuable data.
“I don’t know even if this floor will be useful in Miami or not. So there are a lot of consequences out of our hands or not by our own mistakes, only because of someone else or something, that is quite painful.”
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2022 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix
- Aston Martin’s first points reward “immense” effort by factory after Melbourne crashes
- Verstappen becomes 14th driver in F1 history to score more than one ‘grand slam’
- Transcript: “I need more power” – Hamilton and Russell’s contrasting fortunes at Imola
- Ferrari backs increase to six sprint races as F1 Commission meets in London
- Ocon blames pit equipment after penalty for near-miss with Hamilton in pits
Jere (@jerejj)
24th April 2022, 16:20
Just a wrong place wrong time moment, but I’m positive his luck will change eventually.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
24th April 2022, 16:23
And the new floor got wrecked.
Roger Ayles (@roger-ayles)
24th April 2022, 17:37
I was surprised Sky seemed to think it was purely the sidepod damage that caused the retirement as that is something they could change.
Was clear that the bigger problem was the floor damage given how much performance comes from the floor now.
I think Sky & especially David Croft were embarrassing this weekend. Regardless of your opinions on the gimmick race or Dumb Racing System he was going way overboard in pushing both.
A good lead commentator should call the action they can see rather than push there own agenda. Sadly Sky & Croft seem to just want to go the tabloid journalism route of creating the stories & selling there opinions rather than just reporting on what is actually going on.
This is why I honestly do feel that Sky getting the F1 broadcast deal from the BBC & eventually becoming as integrated with F1 as they are was one of the worst things to ever happen to the sport. And that is before you get into how many fans are forced to watch highlights now due to Sky been overpriced & sub-par compared to not only what we had before but also the alternative we have now which you only get live once a yea sadly.
Eric
24th April 2022, 17:51
I totally agree with you Roger. Mr Croft and Mr Brundle are not only tabloid like in their narrative of the F1 seasons in recent years, but they are two faced and will blow where the wind comes from in terms of who they both want to be judgemental and insulting towards.
SKY Sport are hugely dominant around Italy, Germany and several other European countries for the coverage, and it is difficult to see where any broadcaster can resonably challenge their longevity, so let’s hope that some media companies from the US such as ESPN or BeIN Sports in the Middle East decide to bid for the rights to televise F1 when the contract for it comes up for renewal in 2024. I expect that to be known before the end of the start of next season in 11 months from now.
Broke1984 (@broke1984)
24th April 2022, 18:15
Spot on. I’ve been using f1tv despite having canal+ here in France. As English is my 1st language I’ve prefered English commentary but choose the f1tv commentary over sky, today I watched it on canal+ and will likely cancel my f1tv prescription, they’ve shot themselves in the foot as they no longer support screen mirroring from ios to smart tv, defeats the point to be forced to sit in the office rather than watch on 55inch screen.
Thing that also annoys me with sky is having the same 3 people interviewing the drivers after the race. Why not a local hero or even the f1tv team like Sam or Rosanna or Laura or Will Buxton. Why always MB, DC and Webber and Button. It’s annoying
SHR Modding
24th April 2022, 22:07
Have to agree. Crofty seems cringe a lot of the time. He doesn’t react to things going on screen but prioritises finishing his sentence and working what he sees into the end of his sentence which means by the time he mentions it it’s often too late and out of place. Also often talks over team radio. I watched highlights on channel 4 website recently and forgot how good their team is. What a difference
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
24th April 2022, 22:26
I am a Brundle fan (from his driver days, and then his Murray Walker days), but I am not a Croft fan. The “laddish” nature of his “wit” does not appeal to me. Karun Chandhok or Anthony Davidson would be a far better pairing with Brundle. Paul Di Resta makes as many mistakes as Croft, but without the added grace of ever correcting himself. At least Sir Jackie had an excuse!
That being said, Sky coverage is pretty good compared to the advert filled “picture within picture” nonsense we get here on cable television in Canada. I will take what I can get, and hope for more.
Jim from US (@jimfromus)
24th April 2022, 17:56
In NASCAR they would have covered that hole with racing tape and just got on with it. 4 or 5 long strips would have done the job.
SHR Modding
24th April 2022, 22:03
The hole wasn’t the problem. A chunk of the floor was missing. That’s why he lost so many places in such a short time. Jo downforce
Broom (@)
24th April 2022, 18:31
Another miserable season in store for Fernando. How he must just miss those 5th places in qualifying and podium finishes in the Ferrari.
Ajaxn
24th April 2022, 18:42
Looks like someone’s been skimping on the carbon fibre costs.
daniel
24th April 2022, 20:57
Alo gets new floor when behind in champ what will lh haters say if he gets car lighter than russ
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
24th April 2022, 22:29
Alonso seems genuinely on it this season. I hope that his luck turns.