At lack of power from McLaren engine
who spent much of the race trading spots with Jolyon Palmer and the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat for the minor places, took aim at McLaren’s beleaguered engine supplier, Honda.
“I have never raced with less power in my life,” Alonso fumed over the radio. Later, the Spaniard was told his team were weighing up a different strategy. “Do whatever you want, man,” he replied, clearly disheartened with how the race was unfolding.
Alonso’s misery was compounded when he parked his McLaren following an engine failure. His team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne did not even start the race after he, too, fell at the mercy of further woes with McLaren’s Honda engine.
“It was a frustrating race,” Alonso said. “The deficit in power and performance we had on the straights today was amazing.
“Sometimes I looked in the mirrors at the beginning of the straights and saw the other cars 300, 400 metres behind, so I forgot completely about that car and started changing settings on the steering wheel and doing my own things, then the next thing I see when I come on the brakes is that car alongside me. “We were running close to the points but that’s not enough. Today we never had the pace we had in Australia and China, and, in the end, we had a problem and we decided to retire the car. “When the red lights go off you’re motivated and you start fighting, but you’re so behind on the straights that there’s no way you can defend your position. You fight in a fair way with everyone, but you don’t enjoy the battle.”