Fernando Alonso Monaco disaster a “one-off”

Alonso driving his Alpine in Monaco — Photo: © LAT Images

Monaco Grand Prix

Alonso Monaco disaster a “one-off”

Spaniard still loving Monaco despite being knocked out of qualifying in Q1

Ian Parkes & Will Gray

Sunday 23 May 2021 09:44

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Fernando Alonso is confident his disastrous qualifying session in Monaco is a “one-off” after blaming traffic and a lack of grip for being knocked out of Q1 for the first time with Alpine.

Alonso, who returned to F1 this season after two years away, had started to find his feet again in his fifth race weekend back but his positive feeling in the car turned into disappointment at the crucial moment.

“It was a good weekend up to qualifying in terms of how I felt,” he said. “I was more competitive in practice but in qualifying, the tyres were not easy to put the temperature in and both attempts were a little bit affected by traffic, out lap and things.

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“But this is part of the game and it was the same for everybody. We didn’t manage to go through that session, so we take the lessons on board and get ready for the next opportunity.

“It’s a one-off. It is a very specific set-up for this circuit, a very specific way to operate the car, [so] we should be too worried. Weekends like this one will make us stronger as a team.”

Alonso's Renault wins a distant memory

Alonso has previously won twice in Monaco back in 2006 and 2007 with Renault, but his last visit was a disappointment as he retired from the race after just seven laps with a gearbox failure to his McLaren in 2018.

The 39-year-old acknowledged there is little he can do from where he is on the grid.

Asked what he expects for the race, Alonso added: “I think, not much. Honestly, there are not many chances in Monaco to recover big positions.

“Maybe a wet race but it is not forecasted any rain for tomorrow, so it’s going to be a race to refocus and try to get some information but difficult to be in the points if I’m honest.

“Monaco is special and driving in these cars on new tyres is quite high adrenaline in every lap, in every corner, so I did enjoy the weekend. The race I will enjoy less because we will be in the middle of traffic.

“In a train of cars, it becomes a bit less enjoyable but in the end, it was an experience. This weekend is always very special and it was this year as well.”