Fernando Alonso seemed to reach new levels of frustration at the Belgian Grand Prix, complaining about the car over the team radio. As with so many races in the recent seasons, Alonso didn’t complete the race distance. But was there actually a mechanical failure or was Alonso just fed up with the underperforming car?
Unfortunately, Alonso’s rants about the underperforming Honda power unit are a frequent occurrence. Despite enjoying a good battle early in the Belgian Grand Prix, the Honda power unit quickly fell behind the other competitors in the field and Alonso’s rage began.
Fans witnessed the familiar sight of Alonso crawling back to the pits in his McLaren-Honda on lap 25 to retire the car. But there is something suspicious about his team radio that has led many to believe that the Spaniard retired out of anger rather than a legitimate mechanical failure.
Just moments before the call to retire, team radio transcripts show Alonso asking his engineer if there was rain expected in the forecast. Less have a minute after the reply that there was no rain coming, Alonso said “engine problem”. He was then told to box the car.
“It was fun for the first three or four laps! Then we tried to defend our position, but in the middle of the straights some cars passed us without even activating the DRS,” explained Alonso after the race. “For sure, is not easy to race like this, as you cannot have any good wheel-to-wheel battles. It was a difficult afternoon and we were not competitive in race trim. The car was too slow on the straights and it was impossible to have any battles out there, so points were also impossible today. Eventually, we had to stop due to an engine issue.”
The question is, do you think that Alonso legitimately had an engine issue or that he retired just to get out of the car?
In my opinion, I think that he was tired of driving the McLaren. I don’t blame him and I think that I would have done the same thing. Unfortunately, the situation at McLaren-Honda is horrible and I think that it may be killing Alonso’s joy of Formula One racing.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or company. Assumptions made in any analysis contained within this article are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the author.
