Fernando Alonso struggled with traffic and was unable to complete his final qualifying lap in Q1, causing him to finish 17th, dropping out at the opening round of the session.
Ahead of Sunday’s race, FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer confirmed that Alpine had opted to fit a new power unit to the Spaniard’s car, exceeding the limit set by the regulations for a single season.
As a result, this has resulted in a penalty that will see the Asturian driver start the race from last position on the grid at his home Grand Prix in Spain.
Alonso’s power unit will feature a fourth combustion engine , turbocharger , MGU-H and MGU-K , exceeding the limit in all of them, which was set at three for the entire 2022 season. It will also mount a third energy accumulator and a third control electronics, which also exceeds the limit of two components allowed per year.
The penalty for the Spanish driver causes Lance Stroll, Alexander Albon and Nicholas Latifi to gain a position before the start of the Spanish GP.
Even before his engine change, Alonso acknowledged that only an “incredible safety car” would allow him to come back after failing to get past 17th in a frustrating qualifying session.
“I think there’s not much I can do. This is Barcelona, there’s not a lot of overtaking and there’s a lot of tire degradation when you’re running behind other cars. So let’s see.”
“In the last few races, the drivers who started from the back were very lucky and ended up scoring points. I hope to be one of those tomorrow.”
“So if there’s an amazing safety car at the right time, maybe I’ll get lucky and take a couple of points, but I doubt it. I think it’s going to be a tough race.”
This weekend is proving to be another setback for Alonso , who is experiencing a difficult start to the season after only scoring two points in the first five races.
Despite this, the man from Alpine believes that he is at his most competitive moment since 2012, something that has made him feel even more frustrated by problems that are beyond his control, such as the decisions of the FIA stewards, whom he described as “incompetent” after a penalty that took him out of the points zone after the Miami GP.
