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Alonso: "The car was too slow and it was impossible to have any battles"

Published on 29 Aug 2017 10:21
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By: Chris Soulsby

Fernando Alonso had a race of two halves at Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, having a strong start to move his under powered McLaren from tenth on the grid to seventh on the track within the opening lap of the race.

Due to the power deficit of Alonso's Honda engine, the Spaniard soon slipped through the field and dropped out of the points paying positions, being a sitting duck on the long straights of Spa. This removed him from contention and he was unable to defend or challenge for position. He then retired from the race in its second half due to a supposed power unit issue.

"In general, it’s been a good weekend,” said Alonso. “We played a good team game in qualifying, we had a great start – taking the outside lane was the right decision – and we were seventh after the first lap. It was fun for the first three or four laps! Then we tried to defend our position, but in the middle of the straights some cars passed us without even activating the DRS," he added.

“For sure, is not easy to race like this, as you cannot have any good wheel-to-wheel battles. It was a difficult afternoon and we were not competitive in race trim. The car was too slow on the straights and it was impossible to have any battles out there, so points were also impossible today. Eventually, we had to stop due to an engine issue. The situation is what it is and we need to improve it as soon as we can. I know the team is working day and night improving the car, and we hope we can see the results soon," he concluded.

Due to the uncompetitive nature of McLaren in 2017 and with Alonso's contract with the team running out at the end of the season, the Spaniard's future is unknown beyond this year. The double champion has confirmed that he has received a number of offers for 2018 and that his future will be decided within the next two weeks. One such rumour is that he may be on his way to Williams for next year, after he was apparently courted by the team in Belgium.

Chris Soulsby

f1fan0101

Posts: 1,804

Lol true.. but this is McLaren.. MCLAREN.. One of the biggest names in motorsport. They shouldn't be there, and neither should Alonso, arguably the best driver produced this century

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Aug 29 2017 - 10:37

F1 News Fernando Alonso McLaren

Replies (9)

Freguz

Posts: 160
Stop crying, this is the everyday life of a Sauber :-)
- + 0
- Aug 29 2017 - 10:29
- f1fan0101
  
  Posts: 1,804
  Lol true.. but this is McLaren.. MCLAREN.. One of the biggest names in motorsport. They shouldn't be there, and neither should Alonso, arguably the best driver produced this century
  + 1
  
  Aug 29 2017 - 10:37
- Jutlandia
  
  Posts: 191
  Alonso is World Champion in selecting the wrong teams at the wrong time
  + 1
  
  Aug 29 2017 - 12:03
Smiler121

Posts: 53
I'd be really interested to see Alonso go to Williams ?
- + 0
- Aug 29 2017 - 12:40
cribau

Posts: 2
I see Alonso replacing Perez. Force India is the best of the rest team btw.
- + 0
- Aug 29 2017 - 13:41
mcbhargav

Posts: 1,332
Alonso is super quick, World champ, and highly unprofessional.
- + 0
- Aug 29 2017 - 15:57
calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
I think Alonso is on his way out of F1. The only teams he could possible get a seat in are Williams or Renault, and Im not sure if he will truly settle with either of them.
- + 0
- Aug 29 2017 - 17:43
mbmwe36

Posts: 533
I'm starting to look forward to the day he's no longer involved in F1 - All he ever does is cry. And if he could somehow take Max and his unbearable father with him, that'd be awesome
- + 0
- Aug 29 2017 - 20:27
- Maximaal Verslapen
  
  Posts: 323
  You forgot Vettel, he is also complaining all the time. And there is also Hamilton, just because I don't like him. And Raikkonen because he was also a world champion. Then you should probably have all the top drivers out of competition, you fill these positions with guys like Maldonado and you will have a great and very expensive demolition derby.
  + 0
  
  Aug 30 2017 - 10:54