Alonso rues missed podium finish after Turn 1 incident

Fernando Alonso feels that he was robbed of a podium finish at the Singapore Grand Prix after getting taken out at the first corner. Alonso was an innocent victim in a collision between Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen, rocketing through the air after being collected.

He ultimately had to retire from the race due to the incident as the pitwall lost all data on the car. As the lights went out, the Spaniard fired out of his starting grid and attempted to go around the outside into the first corner and was looking good to slot into atleast third place.

"The car was completely destroyed on the left side, and it was almost a miracle we could continue after that hit," said Alonso. "In the end we had to retire which is shame because we had high hopes for this race. I think we would even be leading now because Hamilton was behind me in Turn 1, so if Hamilton is leading now it means we would be leading."

Alonso even believes that a race victory could have been possible: "Sometimes things work out and sometimes they don't. When we start last because of penalties or we change the engine, usually 20 cars finish. Now we are good here and with the rain – I think the podium was guaranteed or maybe we would be even fighting for victory – everything happened."

Fergal Walsh