Alonso on back foot as another problem strikes
Sep.8 (GMM) Recently the runaway championship leader, Fernando Alonso is now firmly on the back foot after yet another problem at Monza.
That crash makes it 24 now, and then the glitches started rolling in front of Ferrari's famous Tifosi on Friday.
In Monza practice, Alonso had gearbox, brake and gearbox problems, and then all was going well in qualifying as he and teammate Felipe Massa gave each other 'tows' on the Autodromo's long straights.
Then it all went wrong again. While Brazilian Massa staked his claim on a new contract by qualifying third, Alonso was far adrift in 'Q3', and just P10 for Sunday.
"I think he (Alonso) had a problem," Massa said.
Alonso confirmed that "something broke" on his F2012, and team boss Stefano Domenicali said he thinks it was a rear roll-bar.
So as predicted by Alonso on Friday, McLaren dominated qualifying, with Lewis Hamilton on pole ahead of his teammate Jenson Button.
The Spaniard, Alonso, was quoted by AS newspaper: "As we said in Belgium, if we can not win then the best news is that McLaren is strongest.
"One (Hamilton) is 47 points behind, the other (Button) 63, so we can afford for them to win a few times without too much worry."
Alonso's closest points challenger, Sebastian Vettel, qualified fifth at Monza.
Share Or Save This Story
The season is still very long - Rosberg
Jules Bianchi's father speaks of family's continued hopes
Sauber under no illusions about constructors' position
Defendant ordered to pay £250,000 legal fees in Felipe Massa F1 title case
Felipe Massa’s F1 2008 lawsuit will proceed to trial
Felipe Massa's £64million legal claim update: Judgement reserved after three-day hearing
McLaren trying to understand Ferrari's 'inspirational' upgrade volume
Otmar Szafnauer tells Ferrari to 'leave Charles Leclerc alone' amid Lewis Hamilton battle
Why Charles Leclerc’s battle of the brakes has left him trailing Lewis Hamilton
Kasey Kahne is as passionate and competitive as ever at Knoxville Nationals
Knoxville Nationals feature hasn't had a lead change in three years
Ty Gibbs wants to see what NASCAR would look like without digital mirrors
Daniel Dye secures four-race NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Jordan Anderson Racing
Top 10 rookie seasons in F1
Why F1 shouldn’t be hiding its most interesting characters
100 not out: Alex Albon on Williams’s desire to atone for its 2026 struggles
Why it will “take years” for Cadillac to reach the level F1 rivals are operating at
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments