Alonso demands F1 learn from Schumacher car-splitter smash

Schumacher, Haas, Monaco, 2022 — Photo: © LAT Images

Fernando Alonso

Alonso demands F1 learn from Schumacher car-splitter smash

Schumacher crashed heavily during the Monaco Grand Prix

Sam Hall

Thursday 2 June 2022 11:35

Fernando Alonso has urged F1 to learn from Mick Schumacher's car-splitting crash at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Haas driver Schumacher lost control of the rear of his VF22 on entry to the swimming pool complex and collided heavily with the Tecpro barriers.

The impact caused the gearbox and rear assembly to part company with the chassis - the second time this has happened to Schumacher this year after his heartstopping crash in Saudi Arabia.

Asked about the German's latest incident, Alonso reflected: “[It was] massive again.

"I remember also seeing the Jeddah accident and again, the car split in two. I saw the gearbox was not in the chassis.

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“Luckily he is okay but a big, big accident so hopefully we can learn something from this as well.

"I don’t think it is a car issue, it is just how hard you hit. With these cars, they are very heavy, more than 800 kilos, so the inertia you go into a wall is a lot higher than in the past.

“As I said, we will learn something from this as well.”

Alonso backs FIA over red flags and delays

The start of the Monaco race was delayed by 65 minutes after a light shower was followed by a torrential downpour.

After the weather improved, however, there was still a significant wait to get going, with the FIA later revealing a power outage that had required a system reset.

“I think those showers were appearing randomly. The radar was not showing them so they [the FIA} were a little bit surprised as well," conceded Alonso.

“Because we didn’t have any wet sessions [over the weekend], it was good to be cautious at the beginning and do a couple of laps behind the safety car.

“Also the second red flag, I guess it was to repair the wall after Mick’s accident. I think they were on the same side, which is what we ask normally from the race direction to take care of us.

“I am happy with all the decisions, to be honest.”