US GPMessage from Alonso after the race start incident: «The quality of the drivers is very low»
Fernando Alonso saw his race compromised before completing the first lap. The contact with Alex Albon damaged his car, causing him to lose time throughout the race. Nevertheless, the Asturian driver describes Austin as a great weekend.
Fernando Alonso leaves Austin without points, but with good feelings and leaving a message. The Asturian driver finished the United States Grand Prix in 16th position, after a race in which he was compromised from the start.
Alex Albon collided with the Aston Martin driver during the first lap, leaving the Oviedo driver with damage for the rest of the day. Fernando threw a dart at Carlos Sainz's teammate, while also showing his satisfaction with the pace found at the Circuit of the Americas.
Alonso was affected from the first lap
Starting from 12th position, Alonso made it clear yesterday that scoring points was a complex possibility, but one he clung to. However, those options vanished completely before even finishing the first lap.
Albon attempted to overtake the Asturian in turn 11, with a late move that ended in contact and damage to car '14'. A misstep that Alonso remembered after getting out of the car. «Albon forgot that turn 11 was there and had to turn left», he commented to the microphones after the race.
The criticism of the Williams driver did not stop there. «We need to improve and get a bit higher up, because at the back of the grid the quality of the drivers is very low right now».
Aston Martin leaves Austin with heads held high
Despite this setback, the feelings this weekend have been better compared to others, such as Singapore. Aston Martin found itself in the fight and, considering the context of this season, it is something they want to highlight.
Even with the damaged car, Alonso wanted to emphasize the performance of the AMR26 at COTA, especially highlighting the degradation. «I think it has been the best race of the year by far, in terms of competitiveness. The car was very strong in the race, good tire management, we had a lot of damage in the first lap with the Albon incident and despite that, the car was still competitive».
The two-time world champion was surprised by the performance shown in the race, considering the damage the car was carrying. «I find it impressive what the car was capable of doing, I don’t know how we were able to remain competitive. We were running 12th with half a car».
The chassis of the AMR26 showed signs of improvement in Austin.
Alonso does not forget what happened in turn 11 and blames the Anglo-Thai for not scoring points, but maintains a positive outlook to close the weekend. «Maybe today we could have had a ninth or tenth position on merit, so it was a better race and a stronger race of the year, but ruined in the first lap. Despite today’s result, we take positive aspects from this weekend».
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