Alonso: “We are unlucky again, but we are no longer in the Top-5 group”

Fernando Alonso finished the 2024 F1 Monaco GP in 11th positionclose to scoring points before the race, starting 14th at a circuit where it was impossible to overtake, seemed like a utopia.

The man from Oviedo started with a hard tire to go as far as possible until the end of the race in search of some ‘safety’ that would give him a free stop to gain positions. But it happens the other way around. An accident occurred on lap 1, in between Pérez, Magnussen and Hülkenberg, which forced the race to stop with a red flag. That allows everyone to change tires. Alonso had to do the same and was forced to use medium rubber while most used hard rubber. And he had to complete 78 laps on that tire.

Furthermore, the position of Zhou In that accident it was very bad for him. This is important. The Chinese could not pass sector 1 because he rolled just behind the crash. That led to continuing the career in the starting positions. So, Sainzthat came out because of a perforation, and gaslywith a punch Or with, they regained their lost positions. That pushed him back two positions he thought he had won.

At this point, Alonso He considers that there is a need to rethink the regulations that allow the change of tires with a red flag, because in circuits like Monaco, it takes away the little chaos that Sunday’s race has.

“When there’s a red flag and you change tires and go to the finish… the only point of interest in the race in Monaco is the pit stops you have to make. It took the excitement out of pit stops. AND maybe reopen the debate about whether when there is a red flag, maybe the tires can’t be changed because there are on some circuits that compromised the race”he assured the international press, with MD in Monaco.

“Anyway, we were very unlucky again. We had no rhythm. It was a bad weekend. I have no doubt about it. We didn’t improve our performance but we were also very unlucky,” he added.

“We started with the hard tire just to extend the stop and have an alternative approach. But there was a red flag and we struggled and had to put in medium. And we had to do 78 laps with the medium, something of a kamikaze strategy, it was the only way to try to score some points. Lance Stroll’s car was with us in 10th position after the red flag, but they repositioned the cars afterwards, so we were 12th, so we were unlucky and the others were very lucky, to have started in the middle and managed to put the tire. it’s hard to go to the end, and that’s a magical opportunity,” he said.

I THOUGHT I WAS 10TH

“I was in a daze. Lance was in front of me after the stop. So I thought we’d secured 10th and a point for the team. Then Lance got a puncture and I said: ‘Oh, it’s all on my shoulders of responsibility. The tires are too old to get those points.’ I drove 15 laps thinking I was 10th And when I crossed the finish line, they told me I was 11th and I said: ‘Oh all this stress’ (laughs)” .

“I don’t know. When there was a red flag Lance (Strol) was tenth and I was 12th then at one point they moved Sainz to third position (and Gasly) and we were 12th and 14th , but we could be 13th and 14th but “Lance was in front of Daniel… I don’t know, I don’t know which position I started and which position I was driving.”

THE PERFORMANCE OF THE CAR

“Looking at the results, we’re not in the Top-5 group anymore, but that’s more of a question for Mike (Krack, team manager).”

MONACO WITH SUCH A BIG AND HEAVY CAR

“I think the cars here are more critical. In the search for more aerodynamic grip and more performance, the cars are harder to drive for everyone. And in our case we don’t get the maximum performance. We have a lot learned from the tough weekend and hopefully the next one will be better.

“The current cars are the worst for Monaco, bigger, heavier… F2 is enough to have an overtaking option. And the tires are too hard for Monaco. We did the whole race in the hard and also in the soft. That’s the problem with the race, but it is what it is you have to accept that it’s Saturday, everything is based on the classification”.

SUNDAY’S RACE SHOULD NOT BE DONE, BUT THE MONACO ‘QUALY’ FORMAT SHOULD

“I think it’s fine the way it is. I love Monaco. Because that’s Monaco. It’s Saturday. So you prepare all the free practice for that one lap. But unfortunately, with these cars, with this downforce, traffic is a bigger problem. If we have to change about Monaco, it is not on Sunday in Monaco as it is, but we should all be able to return on Saturday (without traffic) and that is not the case, because there is a lot of traffic… the magic of it Saturday in qualifying we have to be sure that he is still there.