Fernando Alonso has ‘no answer’ behind mystery formation lap breakdown
Alonso's car broke down on the way to the grid at Silverstone.
Fernando Alonso said he had “no answer” as to why his car shut itself off midway through the formation lap at Silverstone.
Alonso though was able to restart his car and made it to the start line, going on to experience no problems in the race itself.
Fernando Alonso has no reason behind formation lap breakdown
Alonso was on his way to his P21 starting spot when the car gave out during the formation lap, prompting the Spaniard to start the race from the pit lane.
He was though able to get moving, rising up to 18th due to retirements below him and otherwise had a normal race.
Asked why his car shut off, Alonso said it remained a mystery.
“I have no answer from the formation [lap], the car shut off by itself,” he told media including PlanetF1.com at Silverstone. “So then I tried to restart the engine, and everything was fine from that moment.
“[I was just] gathering data for the team, hopefully they see something on the data that can help the development of the car, and we drive as fast we can.”
Speaking later on, Chief Trackside Officer Mike Krack said the team still did not have an answer even after the post-race debrief.
“The honest answer is, we don’t know,” he said. “The car shut down, and we need to look completely in the data, where is it from?
“Because there could be a lot of possibilities from the ECU, the chassis side, the energy side. We were just in the debrief. We wait for the data, and then we can say something.”
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Speaking about the race in general, Alonso questioned what fans want by repeating a criticism that overtakes felt artificial given the differing battery levels.
Alonso suggested there was not any “driver talent” needed to overtake.
“It depends what the fans and the sport wants today,” he said. “You saw it in the sprint, people overtaking in the middle of the straight with more battery, so there is not any driver input or driver talent needed to overtake a car in front of you.
“You don’t need to outbrake anyone, you don’t need to overtake on the outside, you don’t need to take any risk, and just press one button and you overtake if you have a better power unit than the car in front.”
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