Alpine’s Fernando Alonso could be seen beating his wheel in frustration in the aftermath of the Canadian Grand Prix as more misfortune befell him on Sunday.
Alonso had earned his first front-row start since 2012 on Saturday in wet conditions as he beat Carlos Sainz to second behind Max Verstappen, and he expressed his intent to challenge the reigning champion for the lead.
Verstappen had begun to pull away after the first lap though, and Sainz would get past his compatriot a few laps into the race.
READ: Leclerc admits ‘tough time’ at Ferrari after major reliability issues in Canada
An ill-timed Virtual Safety Car followed by a full Safety Car put Alonso behind George Russell and team-mate Esteban Ocon, before he lost a further place to Charles Leclerc to end up in seventh.
The double world champion was also frustrated when he was not allowed past Ocon at the end, but the Frenchman was running at a steady pace to give his team-mate a tow since, as of around lap 20, Alonso had also started to suffer from engine problems.
Difficult is likely not an apt word to describe how the Spaniard’s day went, and after his day had yet again unravelled in what continues to be a hugely unlucky 2022 season for him, he was seen punching his steering wheel in frustration on the cool down lap.
It would then get even worse for the 40-year-old, as he was given a penalty for weaving on the straight to defend from the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas on the final lap.
READ: Watch: Fascinating footage of Leclerc ‘drifting’ his Ferrari in the pitlane
This sent him behind the Finn and his team-mate Zhou Guanyu, making for a miserable day at the office for Alonso.
“We were unlucky once more with the VSC,” he told Lawrence Barretto after the race.
“I was at the start/finish line when it came out and I was just entering the pits when it ended so we decided to stay out, so that was a little bit unlucky there.
“But the biggest problem to be honest was the engine, we had an engine problem in lap 20 or something like that, and I was losing about a second a lap with the energy deployment.
“So, from that moment, we forgot about the podium we were just [either] retiring the car or just staying in the DRS train with a cars in front just to defend.
“But it was very difficult to stay with Esteban or Charles because, on the straights, we were losing one second.”
Alonso’s points score in Montreal was his fifth of the season, but two points were much less than he wanted or deserved following his tremendous qualifying display.