Fernando Alonso was visibly frustrated with his DNF in Mexico, lashing out at the air as he exited his car in the run off area down by Turn 1.
The Spaniard was sat in a very respectable seventh place when his engine began to fail, eventually causing him to have to stop the car and retire from the race for the fifth time this season.
Alonso was not shy of sharing his frustration after the race, hinting at some bias in the team as he feels it is always his car with the issues rather than his teammate Esteban Ocon.
“We’re just unprepared, the engine just can’t finish races,” he said in reply to claims he has just been lucky with results.
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“It can’t just be bad luck if you have to change six or seven engines and you still don’t finish races.”
The Alpine car has been very competitive this season, taking the title of ‘best of the rest’ in fourth place in the constructors’ championship as it stands, however Sunday’s issues saw McLaren creep ever closer to them, with the gap now only seven points.
Esteban Ocon has dismissed Alonso’s claims that he is the only one having problems with his car this season, outlining his own battles with reliability.
“My gearbox broke in Imola, the car broke at Silverstone and I retired in Singapore. My car also breaks,” he said in response to his teammate’s comments.
“I have changed six engines like him. Obviously his broke in Mexico, but we are on the same number of engines.”
Alonso is well known for his tendency to become a bit of a toxic presence within a team when he is fed up or not happy with how things are going, with his team radio messages during his spell at McLaren becoming infamous as the Spaniard grew tired of the car’s inability to compete.
Team principal Otmar Szafnauer insists that there is no bias within his team, even though Alonso has already announced that he will be joining Aston Martin for 2023.
“We don’t always have the same people preparing Alonso and Ocon’s engines,” he explained.
“But the probability that the problem is always on one side is not zero.
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“I remember when I was at Honda, (Takuma) Sato had 13 breakdowns in a year and (Jenson) Button had none.
“Just like now, it’s a matter of luck,” he concluded.
Aston Martin have previously stated they are aware of Alonso’s reputation and are confident of keeping the Spaniard happy via and open and honest relationship.