Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso has opened up about his unusual suspension failure at Monza and the crucial points lost so far in the season due to misfortunes heading into the F1 Azerbaijan GP this weekend.
Alonso was on course to finish in the top ten when his front-right pushrod gave way and forced him to retire from the Italian GP on Lap 25. As the Spaniard ruled out the possibility of the malfunction stemming from excessive kerb usage during the race, the team initiated an investigation into the sudden suspension collapse.
Aston Martin eventually concluded that gravel flicked up on the opening lap had hit Alonso’s AMR25 in multiple areas, including the suspension, thereby compromising its integrity. The characteristics of the high-speed Monza Circuit exacerbated the damage over subsequent laps, resulting in the suspension giving out completely.
Unusual suspension failure shouldn’t recur anytime soon
Speaking in a print media session ahead of the F1 Azerbaijan GP, Fernando Alonso revealed that he was “not really” happy despite Aston Martin uncovering the root of his suspension failure at Monza.
Noting how he was convinced from the very beginning that kerb-riding was not the primary culprit, the 44-year-old reaffirmed that gravel hitting an exposed component had triggered the suspension collapse. While he deemed the team ruling out fundamental defects or quality issues an encouraging sign, the Aston Martin driver nonetheless lamented his poor luck and further loss of points.
“I mean, they told me on Monday already or Tuesday after the race. I knew that it was not from the kerbs. It was just a suspension failure.
“If the cause of it was not a production thing or quality control thing, it’s obviously better. That is just bad luck, a stone. That is a physical part of the car that was not strengthened up.
“But, yeah, nothing we can do now. Unfortunately, another bad luck and points that we lost in a race.”
Asked if the team has introduced any modifications to prevent such failures from happening again, Alonso couldn’t provide a definitive answer. He reckoned that certain parts of the car would always be vulnerable to contact with foreign elements.
At the same time, highlighting the rarity of such freak incidents, the two-time world champion stated that he doesn’t expect to encounter a similar complication in the near future.
“No, I don’t think so. I mean, this is going to be always exposed to some external objects that may come to the car.
“I think it’s one in ten million cases. So let’s hope that in ten million races I have another failure like that.”
Alonso hopes for normal luck next year
The suspension failure at Monza has further compounded a season that has already been challenging for Fernando Alonso. He currently sits 12th in the standings behind his teammate, Lance Stroll.
Although acknowledging that such DNFs are part and parcel of F1, Alonso put his lack of points down to bad luck in the Thursday media session before the Azerbaijan GP.
Highlighting how he had encountered a sheer number of race-ending incidents in 2022 while running in points-paying positions [Alonso had five DNFs from Grands Prix during the 2022 season with Alpine], the Spaniard estimated that he has already lost 22 points from four retirements this season.
“These things can happen, but for sure, I think I remember 2022, which I think the car was not too bad, the Alpine car, and we were competitive. And I had 12 DNFs, always in the races that I was P5, P6.
“I think that year the team counted like 55, 60 points lost. And this year we are already up to 22, I think. So, yeah, it’s a shame that we cannot finish the races on merit when we are in the points.”
Expressing his frustration over how his races are typically uneventful when the likelihood of scoring points is zero, Alonso also confessed that he hopes for his fortune to change for the better if they produce a competitive car in 2026.
“Then when we are slow, because we are uncompetitive, normally things are always smooth and nice until the chequered flag and we score no points.
“But this is the way it is and this is the sport, the nature of the sport. And as long as next year we have a good car, we are in normal luck. We don’t ask for good luck, but normal luck is okay.”
