Fernando Alonso’s qualifying exploits caused an eruption from the crowd on Saturday, but the McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team driver was forced to retire from the British Grand Prix on Sunday, the seventh time this season that he has not seen the chequered flag.
Alonso is now hoping that the fuel pressure problem that saw him retire at Silverstone on Sunday does not mean that he’s lost the engine completely, especially after taking a thirty-place grid penalty due to putting the engine in his MCL32 in the first place!
Despite all this, Alonso admitted he would have been more disappointed to retire if the car was on course for a top ten finish, but this was not the case, and he now turns his attention to the Hungarian Grand Prix at the end of the month, expecting for McLaren to be much more competitive there.
“It was a difficult weekend for us, starting last with the penalties; then in the race, when I was following a group of cars, I had another issue,” said Alonso. “Hopefully, it hasn’t done any damage to the engine and we’ll be able to keep using it in the future.
“Stoffel [Vandoorne] was eleventh today, so I think we weren’t quick enough to be in the points today and I think I could have ended up thirteenth or fourteenth, so the retirement is a little bit less painful than it would be if we’d lost a points finish.
“Now I’m looking ahead to Hungary, which should be a better weekend for us.”
