Alonso's ordeal with breakdowns: "This bad luck is incredible"

• Classification Frustration for Alonso and Sainz in Melbourne

• Australian GP Starting grid

• Quick lap Mixed feelings

• World Cup 2022 Leclerc, leader, with 12 points over Sainz

Next July will be a decade since

's last

in F1.

Since that distant 2012 German GP, ​​the two-time world champion had only come close to the privileged positions at the 2021 Qatar GP, with a third position on the grid that he later managed to keep against the push of

.

That November 21 was the date of his first podium at the wheel of the Alpine, a car without the speed of the best, but resistant to breakdowns.

Less than five months later, the Asturian's situation seems very different.

His first words to the press unequivocally reflected Alonso's disappointment.

"It's quite frustrating to have another problem with the car, but let's see if this streak ends. It's incredible how bad luck we had. If everything happens 20 seconds later, maybe now we'd have

," Fernando said, referring to the setbacks suffered since the pre-season in Barcelona and the subsequent engine changes, which forced him to start with a new power unit at the Bahrain GP and the Saudi Arabian GP.

The breakdown in Jeddah forced his abandonment when he was running in sixth position.

After the pertinent examination of the parts in the Viry factory, the engineers were clear that they could no longer reuse the Renault engine.

And that severe step backwards may now be repeated in Melbourne.

"We have to see if we also have to change something in the car, if we will have a penalty or not, although now that doesn't matter to me," admitted Alonso.

In the fight with Leclerc

According to his first diagnosis, it was a "hydraulic problem", the same reason given by Alpine during the tests in Montmeló.

The explanation that teams often cling to in order not to offer clues to their problems to the competition.

"He did not have the gear change, nor did he have the power steering. In that curve everything went off," said the Spaniard, without offering details about what happened to his engine, which suddenly stopped roaring.

At the time of impact against the wall at Turn 11, Alonso was battling

and

for

and had two extra sets of tyres, which he was able to reserve during Q1 and Q2.

His time in the first sector (26.856) had been only 18 thousandths slower than that of the Monegasque, although one tenth faster than

's time .

In the second sector, Fernando set the best time (17.753), one tenth faster than Sainz and two than Leclerc.

"Right now, in the heat and after being so close to

, I would say it will be nice to get some points, but we deserve that podium sooner or later," he stressed to reporters.

"I prefer all or nothing"

"If we take a point well and if we don't take it, well too, because I prefer all or nothing. At the moment, bad luck is holding us back," concluded Alonso, who will start two places behind

.

After the intense pulse between the two two weeks ago in Jeddah, the young Frenchman could not keep up with his garage mate on this occasion.

Curiously, since the start of the World Championship, Ocon's A522 has only suffered from a gearbox problem, which forced him to wear new parts for free practice at the Bahrain GP.

Since then, the rest of the breaks in Alpine focused on the Spanish car.

Waiting for what happens on Sunday,

,

Alpine's

"Today we had the potential to put our cars in the top five. Now we know that we can still have a good race starting from eighth and tenth position. On Friday, our race pace was positive, so we will try to score good points," he endorsed. the romanian

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• Fernando Alonso