Fernando Alonso’s hopes of regaining positions lost in qualifying due to a ground break in his Alpine A522 were dashed before he even started the sprint race at the 2022 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix.
With an eighth place on the starting grid, the Asturian driver starred in one of the images of the season, when at the time of starting the formation lap, his car was still up on the stands, with the thermal blankets placed and the engine off.
Although at first it seemed to be a rookie mistake, the reality was different, as it was a sudden power unit blackout just minutes into the race that ultimately caused Alonso to retire.
Speaking to the media present, including Motorsport.com, the #14 Alpine driver explained what had happened and was visibly frustrated with his first part of the season.
“About five minutes before the start we had a blackout in the car and we couldn’t start it again. We tried to start it with the external battery, but that didn’t work either.”
“So something serious has happened in there [in the engine] and we have to look at it to fix it for tomorrow.”
Analyzing if Alpine is suffering from too many reliability problems this year, Alonso was clear in his comments: “It has been another problem in my car, but I don’t know, the reliability I think is good, or at least Esteban Ocon’s car always goes well. “.
Personally, the man from Oviedo lamented this new abandonment, which added to all the previous ones, generates frustration because he considers that he is at his “best level of driving” since he landed in the highest category of motorsports.
“This year I feel probably at my best level of driving, also thanks to the experience, maybe I’m at the level of 2012 and I have about 20 points, it’s incredible. I mean, maybe we lost 70 points, I guess about 60 if we count all retirements due to bad luck or reliability, so it’s been a very strange season”.
“I’m very proud of my own work so far this year, but not getting points for all these reasons is obviously very frustrating, but I’d be sadder if it was my own mistakes like spinning, crashing or something like that. At the wheel I try to do everything I can,” he concluded.
Tomorrow, Fernando Alonso will start from 19th position at the Red Bull Ring, but he believes that the weekend is already lost due to the “trains of cars with DRS” that form at this circuit and do not allow overtaking.
Fernando Alonso at the wheel of the Alpine A522 in the Red Bull Ring.
