Fernando Alonso could be penalized: “If someone thinks that I am not in Q2 because of a wheel lock, it is because they have not seen 99% of the lap”
It should have been a dream, but it is turning out to be the opposite: a nightmare. Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin They had high hopes for him Singapore GPon the street circuit of Marina Bay, which had to better adapt to the characteristics of the AMR26 of the Asturian and his companion Stroll. But on Friday it became clear, as he said Fernandothat the car lacks downforce and that the clear lack of engine power also hinders them on a track with few straights. And a day later, the nightmare was even worse due to persistent failures of the Honda engine.
The man from Oviedo already alerted the team by radio in the middle of the sprint race that there was some problem with the engine. Sling because it had no power when exiting the corners. In fact, he proposed to the team if they wanted to retire the car so that their mechanics would have more time to change the engine to face qualifying. But finally, it came out with that same propellant. And it failed again.
Thus, as he himself recognized Alonso after classification, He will most likely change elements of his power unit before the race, something that will cost him a penalty that will see him start from the back of the grid. along with Russell, who has accumulated 40 penalty spots for changing various elements of his engine.
We still have some issues and concerns with the engine. We already suffered it in the sprint race and I think it continues to happen in the classification
Despite this, Fernando Alonso He was able to leave his mark in the classification. With a car damaged by this problem, he gained 7 tenths on his teammate Lance Stroll and He touched Q2 by only 54 thousandths.
To do this, he had to go to the limit in his turn, which caused him to lock his wheels in turn 16. Therefore, when he was asked on official F1 television if that lock cost him Q2, he wanted to make things clear.
We probably should have stayed much further behind. With Hadjar competing, we’d probably even finish 19th or 20th or something like that. I think that was the best. It has been a very solid return
“I don’t think so. I think I’m seven tenths ahead of my teammate. So… If anyone thinks that, because of half a tenth or a wheel lock, we’re not in Q2, I may not have seen 99% of the lap, so we probably should have been much further behind. With Hadjar competing, we’d probably even finish 19th or 20th, or something like that. I think that was the best. It has been a very solid return. We still have some issues and concerns with the engine. We already suffered it in the sprint race and I think it continues to happen in qualifying,” commented Fernando.
“Yes, we’ll see,” he said when asked if he could learn more about his car in the race. “It will probably come from behind if we change the power unit, but we’ll see how everything turns out,” he concluded.
