F1 News - Fernando Alonso says too many cars took a shortcut at race start

French Grand Prix – McLaren’s Fernando Alonso says his attempts to respect track limits backfired as no penalties were issued to the drivers who cut the track on Lap 1.

Alonso, who arrived at Paul Ricard on a high after claiming his first Le Mans 24 Hours victory at his first time of asking the previous weekend, came back down to earth with a bump as McLaren struggled their way through the French GP weekend. Both he and teammate Stoffel Vandoorne were eliminated in the first part of qualifying with a fundamental lack of single lap pace, with Alonso consigned to starting the race from P16.

On the first lap, Alonso had to take avoiding action as two accidents took place in front of him: the initial collision between Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel & Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and the mayhem that caused, as well as the second crash between Force India’s Esteban Ocon & Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly. Alonso, unlike many others, stuck to the track limits for both incidents, while most of the drivers took to the vast escape areas around the circuit. Now down at the back, Alonso chose to pit under the Safety Car and take on the Soft tyres and run an alternative strategy: “I started this race on the back-foot, losing positions at the start as I avoided a lot of accidents around me. Too many cars ahead of me took a short-cut, but I stayed on track and ended up last.”

Now down the back with the now repaired Vettel & Bottas, Alonso spun when the Ferrari made a move around the outside of the McLaren through Turn 3. Wrong-footed by Vettel’s speed, Alonso tapped the right rear of the Ferrari and the momentum caused him to spin off, with Alonso getting on the radio to angrily shout that he ‘hoped Vettel had damage’ and that it was a ‘stupid move’ from the Ferrari driver.

Alonso’s race didn’t get much better from there. Struggling to finish the race with any pace on the Soft tyres, he was passed by Vandoorne in the closing stages and pitted for a fresh set of UltraSofts with the intent of seeing what the outright pace of the car was. However, this plan was scuppered as his suspension failed right at the end, causing him to finish the race with a left rear wheel with positive camber.

“I was still last after the Safety Car period, had a problem with overheating brakes, then used one set of tyres while running in traffic for nearly the whole race. Then, at the end, I had to retire with a suspension problem.

“In five days’ time, we have another opportunity to forget today and raise our game. I really hope this weekend was a one-off and that we’ll show better form at Spielberg and, in particular, at Silverstone.

“I know there are some new things coming over the next few months, and I’m still quite optimistic in spite of us being uncompetitive this weekend.”