Alonso rues missed opportunity

Renault's Fernando Alonso was leading when he spun into retirement on lap 12 of the Belgian Grand Prix. He talks about his race...

Q: Fernando, everything seemed to be going very well for the first ten laps...

Fernando Alonso.

Photo by Brousseau Photo.

"It really was. I got the start I had wanted to move ahead of Schumacher, and then just followed Jarno comfortably for the first ten laps -- I think I could have run quicker on my own, but the difference was not enough for me to overtake him on the track. I could see Raikkonen closing the gap on us but when Jarno pitted, I was pulling away again -- and then it was all over..."

Q: What happened from your point of view?

"Well, I was braking at the end of the long straight as normal, and turned into the corner, but suddenly I lost the back end. The car spun, but I was able to carry on and accelerate down the hill, and then it happened again in turn 8 -- the car oversteered once, I tried to correct it, then lost control."

"I didn't know what the problem was at first, but it was clear as soon as I got out and saw oil all over the rear tyres. The team don't know exactly what happened but it was clearly some kind of oil leak from the engine, as they saw the levels start dropping from when I went through Eau Rouge."

Q: It must be frustrating to retire from such a strong position...

"For sure it is, yes. Whenever you lead a Grand Prix it is a special feeling, and I could see that I was beginning to pull away from Raikkonen at that stage. I set the fourth fastest lap of the race during the first stint, and the car felt really good -- the balance was nice, and we were clearly competitive with Kimi at that stage."

"You can never know what might have been, but it certainly feels like a missed opportunity for me. Having said that, the championship is what matters at this stage of the year, and although we didn't score points, neither did our main competitors. That limits the damage of a weekend like this."

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