Fernando Alonso is looking forward to joining Aston Martin next year, after reportedly becoming tired of the car problems he has experienced this year with Alpine.
The Spaniard made it all the way to lap 66 of 71 in Mexico in seventh place, bettered only by the Ferraris, Red Bulls and Mercedes, looking set once more for an impressive weekend for the French team, before being forced to stop the car.
Alonso had begun to slow, being passed by his teammate and the charging Daniel Ricciardo before feeling something in the car on the run down to Turn 1, joined by a puff of smoke from his car.
The 41-year-old managed to stop his car away from the track, which made it easy to recover and only caused a virtual safety car, and Alonso was visibly distraught by the abrupt end to his race, lashing out at the air before resting his head on a nearby fence to gather his thoughts.
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Alonso is sick of the trend appearing, with this not being the only time this season he has been let down by his car.
“Once more, Car 14 stops before the checkered flag,” he said in frustration after the race.
“I think Austin and Mexico have been the best races in my personal point of view, pace wise, I was like 20 seconds or something like that ahead of the McLarens and my team-mate.
“So yeah, I felt fast today. But once again, as I said, Car 14 stops.”
This was the fifth DNF of Alonso’s season, meaning that he will has retired from a quarter of races so far this season, costing the Spaniard a lot of points.
“We lost now I think it’s around 70 points [this year] – the deficit is pointless to talk about once more.
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“So, let’s see. Only two races to go and then a new chapter.”
Alonso will be joining Aston Martin next year, replacing the retiring Sebastian Vettel, and will be hoping that alongside new teammate Lance Stroll, he will experience better luck next year and bring hope a more consistent haul of points.
With only two races to go, Alonso’s final task will be to ensure that Alpine finish fourth in the constructor’s championship, with the result in Mexico seeing the gap to McLaren behind slashed to only seven points, following a stellar driver from Daniel Ricciardo.