Fernando Alonso only lasted four laps in the Chinese GP of Formula 1. After a good start, in which the Asturian driver regained a position, and when he was right behind Alex Albon, his brakes failed and he had to abandon the race, extending his bad run at the start of the season, making it his second retirement in the first two races of the year.
Fernando Alonso retired on lap 4
After a start to the season below expectations, and after the accident suffered during the Australian Grand Prix that opened the championship, Fernando Alonso was looking to regain confidence with an improved Aston Martin, but very evenly matched with the midfield.
Fernando Alonso started from thirteenth place, made a good start gaining a position, and quickly set off in pursuit of Alexander Albon. The aim was to get into the points in a race where tyre management was going to be key to his aspirations.
However, everything went wrong quickly. On the third lap, there was noticeable smoke coming from the brakes of the AMR25. And just one lap later, on the fourth, Fernando Alonso stopped the car and indicated that it was not braking. After being overtaken by all the drivers on the track, he managed to reach the pits, where his exit from the race and the weekend was finally confirmed.
Two races, two retirements
Fernando Alonso is going through a bad patch at the start of the championship. In the first Formula 1 GP he did not finish the race, after he ended up against the wall because he did not realise the consequences of the gravel on the track after Piastri’s crash. In today’s race, the fault was the team’s, nothing to do with the Spaniard, but it is his second retirement in the first two races of the year. It is the second time in his career that he has retired in the first two races, the other was in 2017 with McLaren, also in Australia and China.
Moreover, in the qualifying for the first race, a crash damaged the floor, preventing him from entering Q3. And in yesterday’s qualifying he was also unable to get into the top ten. His sprint race was also far from the expected level, and Lance Stroll himself beat him, both in qualifying and in the race, but neither of them was able to score any points.
Aston Martin reliability
Aston Martin had not experienced any reliability problems at the start of the season, but this failure is a negative point in the team’s reliability. The AMR25 is a better car than last year’s, they seem to have recovered from the problems they suffered last year. However, the step forward is not spectacular, the middle of the grid is very even, and they need to implement improvements so that the car can stand out.
This reliability failure adds to the homework for the Silverstone team, who will have to review the car’s settings to avoid reliability problems like the one Fernando Alonso suffered in the Chinese F1 GP.
We just have to wait for Suzuka to see if we can see the best version of Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard and Aston Martin have two weeks to analyse what is happening and what they have to do to improve results that are far from what everyone expected. Alonso has not had the start to the world championship that he was hoping for, but there are still 22 races left this season, which is a lot, and everything could change in the next few races. Let’s not forget that this will be the longest Formula 1 World Championship in history, with 24 grand prix. And this is no time to doubt Alonso, he is going through a bad patch, that’s for sure, but the Asturian driver has more than enough ability to recover.