Alonso's "unbelievable" points loss - but is he right?

Ian Parkes
Thursday 14 July 2022 15:55

Two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso feels he has lost up to 70 points this season due to a range of issues to have blighted his second term with Alpine.

Conversely, Alonso claims he is performing at his highest level for a decade since he came within four points of being crowed for a third time in 2012 whilst with Ferrari.

Certainly, the problems have undermined Alonso's campaign in which he has only amassed 29 points from 11 races as F1 has now hit the halfway stage of its 22-grands prix season.

"I'm very proud of my own job this year," said Alonso.

"I feel at my highest level driving-wise, thanks to experience as well, maybe at the level of 2012, and I have these points. It's unbelievable.

"Maybe we've lost 70 points, I guess, 60 points, if we count all the retirements, bad luck and reliability, so it is a very strange season. "I'm driving at my best and I'm trying to work with my team as close as I can. If we don't get the points because of all of these reasons, obviously it's very frustrating.

"But I would be sadder if it was my own mistakes, or spinning around, or crashing, or something like that. Inside the cockpit, I try to do as much as I can."

Alonso's 2022 season

So is Alonso right? Has he really lost around 60 to 70 points this season?

Let's take a look at his first half of this year...

Bahrain Grand Prix - Qualified eighth, finished ninth. A solid weekend.

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix - Qualified seventh, retired after 35 laps with a water-pump failure while running in seventh position.

Australian Grand Prix - Seemed set for a front-row grid slot such was his pace, only for a hydraulics problem that affected the gearbox to spark a crash. After starting 10th, Alonso felt he could have finished sixth but for a safety car that badly affected his strategy.

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Qualified fifth for the sprint in which he could only manage ninth. In the race, was up to eighth early on but retired after being hit by Haas driver Mick Schumacher.

Miami Grand Prix - Qualified 11th, finished 11th. Two separate five-second time penalties - one for causing a collision with AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly - dropped him from eighth to 11th.

Spanish Grand Prix - Qualified 17th but started last after a power unit change and recovered to finish a superb ninth.

Monaco Grand Prix - Qualified seventh, finished a comfortable seventh. Could have done no more in what was a tricky event given the conditions. Finishing position aided by well-timed red flags.

Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Qualified 10th, again finished seventh at the end of a relatively strong display.

Canadian Grand Prix - Qualified a stunning second, the team's first front-row grid slot, but the timing of two VSCs and a suspected air leak led to him nursing his car home to seventh. However, a post-race penalty for weaving dropped him to ninth.

British Grand Prix - Qualified seventh, finished a season-high fifth. Can have no complaints here given the cars ahead of him.

Austrian Grand Prix - Qualified seventh for the sprint but failed to start due to an ECU fault. From 19th on the grid, managed to claim a point for 10th.

Alonso points loss verdict

There is no doubt Alonso has lost points due to a variety of niggles but arguably not as much as he claims.

Australia saw a strong haul slip through his fingers because even if he had started second given his pace in qualifying, you feel he would likely have finished fifth at best given the leading quartet.

As for other races, yes, lower-order points went begging in Jeddah, Imola, Canada and Austria, so we are probably looking at around 30 - at best - to have fallen by the wayside.