http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/58178 GO TO EARLIER STORY GO TO THE NEWS INDEX Alonso: pod damage may have slowed me By Michele Lostia and Jonathan Noble Tuesday, April 17th 2007, 14:18 GMT World champion Fernando Alonso believes that his loss of form in the Bahrain Grand Prix could have been the result of damage caused to his car when a lighting pod fell on it on Friday night. Alonso's front wing had to be replaced on Saturday after the overhead lighting pod detached itself from the ceiling in the team's garage in the early hours of the morning. It subsequently crashed down on his car. Although McLaren played down the matter at Sakhir, Alonso has now suggested that the incident may have played a part in the handling problems he suffered in qualifying and the race. Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport, Alonso said: "Maybe a mistake was made while re-assembling the car after that mishap. The fact is the car had a strange behaviour from then on. "It was as though there was no difference in grip between the hard or medium tyres. If I had raced on intermediates it would have been the same." "Maybe a mistake was made." Here it goes again! McLaren might have to get used to what he used to do with Renault. I knew it wouldn't take long for this to start up again. -John
I would be highly surprised if they left the cars out like that over night without covering them in some way to protect them from heat, dust, falling stuff etc. At least he didn't blame Jean Todt and his little elves.
Is it really impossible to just say, "I made some bad mistakes last weekend, but the next race should be better."? I mean come on! I can't stand that man...
Enzo hated when a driver blamed the car. That's why he loved Villeneuve as he always found a way to make it work.
Maybe he is right, the car was slightly damaged. We see the pit crew making millimeter changes to the front wings. He is still a wanker for saying anything. Here is to hoping that LH always finishes in front of him and in third behind the two Ferrari cars
Actually the story is true, regardless what Alonso says, the above lighting system did fall on his car. The McLaren Mechanics were called in at 2:30AM and worked all night on his car. He should be more grateful for the work the crew did on his car.
Yeah me too. I saw the report of the light falling on Autosport before the race, and I knew it would be brought up if Alonso had a less-than-perfect race. His complaining is so predictable.
Any one know the extent of the damage or the size/weight of the lighting system. Was it a light bulb or was it a floodlight?
Alonso, starting from fourth place on the grid, said he was unsure about the reasons for his lack of pace, admitting he never felt comfortable with his car. "I don't know," he said when asked about the reasons of his struggle. "I didn't have confidence in the car all race long. "It was lacking grip, in the front and in the rear, so it was not only a set-up problem or something like that. I couldn't find the rhythm to be on top. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/58162 ^^^Kimi was also having some trouble with the handling in race, but we didn't hear about that from him. Kimi also managed to keep 3rd with it. On the other hand, Alonso was probably already planning his complaints while racing, so then Heidfeld passed him on the OUTSIDE.
So it's another racing driver making an excuse why he didn't win. Almost all racing drivers do this, it isn't somthing specific to Alonso.
Did you not notice last year when, as Michael started winning a lot and he wasn't doing as well, Renault fell under the blame for it? Yes, most drivers make excuses, but with Alonso, it's almost always the car's fault. There was a lot of discussion last year when he started doing this. He's just picking up where he left off with Renault.
the story is true, but what i can't stand FA is, he always goes to the press and talk things like this when he loses a race badly. did Kimi complain in Malaysia 2 weeks ago with a sick engine? he may be a champ, but he has no personality as a champ. he does nothing by whining.
very true. he said that the team 'abondoned him' and he felt 'alone'. then, last weekend at Bahrain, he said he had 'no confidence' in the car. full of crap.
true, but drivers like MS and Kimi never said a word. MS has the worst season in 2005. all i remember was, he kept on commenting that 'we need to work harder'. in 2005, did Kimi ever go to the press after every blow ups he had?
that's one of the great qualities with Kimi...nomatter what happens, even when his car isn't well sorted, even when he's not vibing with the car, he doesn't take every second of opportunity to bit@ch and bit@ch... he'll say a few things about working to make things better, and that's it...
Kimi doesn't really say much to begin with... i think he prefers to get away from the problem, and party it up...lol.. But true what is said about FA, the first to point fingers. And put the blame some where else. Even if it was a light falling that gave him the bad race pace, still you just suck it up and say we need to try harder next time.
thats kimi's way, lol..pretty unique imo. but the whole point here is, never go to the press and complaint. settle it within the team.
3 choices: 1) It's the car. 2) It's me. 3) Silence. Well, it is pretty hard to think it's #2. He's a double world champion and if given a good car can win easily. It's easy to think it's #1 - when Schumacher had a bad race did anyone actually think it was related to his skill? #3 is obviously the best choice...some people can't shut their mouths though. *shrug*
No no no: the problem was that there was light falling on his car. You wouldn't have seen him get passed if it was dark. Maybe he's promoting Bernie's "night race" concept. Can someone translate into spanish: "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt." Despite all the Massa bashing, consider: When Massa came under attack for his Malaysia drive, he gave his response on the track in Bahrain. A lesson there for Alonso.
