Love him or not, Formula 1 fans must feel some pain to see Fernando Alonso struggling way off the pace as he toils in a terrible McLaren as his career in the top flight comes to an end.
The season finale in Abu Dhabi will be Alonso’s final grand prix, he heads there with little hope of shining but intent on savouring the occasion.
Speaking after a dismal Brazilian Grand Prix, one in far too many below par races over the past four years, Alonso said of his expectations at the final race of the season in the UAE, he replied, “The positions will be where they will be…”
“We know Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull will be in the top six, and then Haas and Force India will be in the remaining top 10. Then will be Renault, Toro Rosso, McLaren, Williams in that mid-pack.”
“So we try to enjoy. The results will be not very important – it is more the emotional part of Abu Dhabi, what I am looking forward to,” explained the double Formula 1 World Champion.
Fernando: I don’t think we had the pace to get into the points
Of his race, he recalled, “The start was good, there were a few incidents just ahead of us, as usual, as they keep bumping into each other. There’s a lot of debris flying off but no one retires, the cars seem indestructible.”
“You never know what it is going to happen, so we tried to take a gamble with the strategy, pitting really early to try and undercut the cars in front of us. But I think in the end, the way the medium tyres worked, our plan backfired, but that’s something we only found out at the end of the race.”
“So, the undercut we were trying to do didn’t work. Neither the strategy nor the pit stop worked well, but, in any case, I don’t think we had the pace to get into the points, so we didn’t lose an opportunity to score points or anything like it.”
During the race, after the pitstop fumble, the Spaniard barked into his radio: “No more radio for the rest of the race.”
When the lights go out on his career at around the same time the flood-lights switch off at Yas Marina Circuit, Alonso will have competed in 315 F1 races, with 97 podiums, 32 times a winner and twice World Champion in 2005 and 2006.