Alonso fumes with Verstappen pit stop in Singapore GP radio message
Photo: Race Pictures
Kieran is a freelance Formula 1 journalist for GPblog, covering breaking news, live race blogs and feature content across the F1 calendar. An NQJ-qualified journalist with more than a decade of experience, he has previously written for publications including MailOnline, the Manchester Evening News and the Eastern Daily Press.
Fernando Alonso was seen slamming his halo in frustration during the Singapore Grand Prix after Max Verstappen ducked into the pits just after the Spaniard slowed down to let the eventual race winner lap him.
The Aston Martin driver had been trying to build a gap to Sergio Perez when he moved aside for Verstappen. Alonso was angered by the time he felt the move cost him, and hit his halo as he vented over team radio.
"We're gaining f***ing one tenth per lap, and then we lose two seconds," Alonso shouted over the radio. "But you can't see that he's going to stop then?!"
His engineer responded: "Yeah, Fernando. We're okay. You're racing Perez on track. Lance [Stroll] is still five seconds behind."
Alonso though was unimpressed with the explanation as he added: "Yeah, but now I need 20 laps to win back what I lost on this lap! I'm not going to push."
ADVERTISEMENT
Alonso delivers savage Honda verdict
Alonso was clearly frustrated with the performance of his Aston Martin and Honda power unit during the Singapore Grand Prix.
Before his frustrations with the timing of Verstappen's pit stop, he made his feelings about Honda's power unit clear in a radio message that was not aired on the international broadcast, sarcastically laughing before remarking: "Energy. It’s so ridiculous this engine."
Alonso's comments came after Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar passed him with ease. Speaking to the media including GPblog after the race, Alonso explained that the Honda power unit had not been performing as expected, with several issues affecting the car's behaviour and costing the team valuable lap time.
ADVERTISEMENT
"I think there is something on the power unit that is not performing as it should do this weekend. And we need to understand why because, obviously, there are a couple of tough races coming. Mexico will be the next one with very slow-speed corners. Maybe Vegas and some other street circuits.
"We need to get on top of the issues, drivability, turbo lag. There are a couple of things that are costing us a lot of time, and we discovered the hard way this weekend."
Don’t miss GPblog in Google
Mark us as a preferred source and our articles will appear more often at the top of Top Stories.
Add as a preferred / source on Google