Chronicle Leclerc is exhibited in Melbourne on a disastrous Sunday for Sainz and Alonso
Australian GP Qualifying and times
Alonso's ordeal "This bad luck is incredible"
World Cup 2022 Leclerc, outstanding leader
Albert Park was another station in the
via crucis
of pain for
Fernando Alonso
, last at the finish line of the Australian GP after a race where everything went the other way.
"You're speechless," the Asturian admitted twice, hurt by the degradation of his tires and by a questionable Alpine strategy.
"To be honest, I am extremely disappointed with the weekend. It is a difficult result to accept," added the two-time world champion, who has picked up just two points from the opening three races of the championship.
The damage caused by the
graining
highlighted Alonso's suffering in Melbourne, where he went from leading the middle of the table to a frustrating fight behind
Lance Stroll
,
Pierre Gasly
and
Valtteri Bottas
.
"It hurts to lose a podium here and a sixth place in Jeddah," confessed the Spaniard, who on Saturday had also rubbed shoulders with Ferrari and Red Bull in the fight for pole.
To that breakdown in the hydraulic system was added later the usual share of misfortune.
"I think it's a matter of bad luck. Today we would have finished seventh easily and in Arabia we retired when we were running sixth," he warned.
On lap 22, after
Sebastian Vettel
's accident , a
safety car
gave Fernando the first trouble, who would have needed more time before the incident to benefit from the situation.
"He Regrouped everybody, but we couldn't stop to put the medium tires on because it was too early," he revealed.
Rather more questionable was Alpine's strategy during the second safety car, as Max Verstappen
's Red Bull retired
.
Williams' bet
At that time, the French team made its driver stop, just like Haas with
Kevin Magnussen
.
However, Williams kept
Alex Albon
in action , who had also started on hard tyres.
In fact, the Brit held on with these wheels at a fairly competitive pace, closing the gap to
Esteban Ocon
, Alpine's other asset.
In fact, his adventure lasted until the penultimate lap.
And so he was able to win the first point for the team led by
Josh Capito
.
"It has been difficult to overtake, especially with the DRS in the last section of the race. The degradation has been very important, so we have had to stop again," recalled Alonso, who mounted another media game to try at least consolation quick turn morale.
However, not even his last attempt (1:20.846) could snatch the extra point from
Charles Leclerc
, six tenths faster (1:20.260).
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Fernando Alonso
Carlos Sainz Jr.