Fernando Alonso experienced a challenging weekend in Azerbaijan. After a chaotic qualification, the Spaniard was set to start from the eleventh position, but he was a bit hasty at the start. The two-time world champion accelerated too early, resulting in a five-second time penalty. Alonso was not particularly bothered by this; afterwards, he was mainly critical of the lack of pace from his Aston Martin.
The onboard cameras of Fernando Alonso revealed that both he and Oscar Piastri made a false start in Baku. Even before the five red lights had gone out, both drivers shot out of their starting boxes. The Australian’s car went into anti-stall mode, causing him to be overtaken from all sides at the actual start. Not much later, he parked his MCL39 into the wall. Alonso was able to finish his race, although he had to pay for the false start with a time penalty. In the end, he crossed the finish line in fifteenth place.
Las Vegas and Mexico
“I reacted to Piastri,” Alonso explained after the race. “Unfortunately, we left before the lights had gone out.” The Spanish veteran complained about the race pace of Aston Martin and emphasized that the time penalty had little impact on the outcome of the race. “It didn’t change much,” he sighed. “We were very, very slow today. That really needs to improve for the next race.””The British racing team has had an inconsistent season so far. After a disappointing start to the season, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll seemed to be becoming increasingly competitive as the summer break approached. For instance, the Spaniard finished in an impressive fifth place during the Hungarian Grand Prix. However, with races in Las Vegas and Mexico City on the horizon, Alonso has little confidence. “Our car simply has certain characteristics,” he explained. “As a result, it doesn’t perform well in Monza, Baku, Las Vegas, or Mexico. I suspect we’ll be trailing far behind there.”
