Monza, Italy: Fernando Alonso believes he could have finished a strong fifth for Ferrari ahead of Daniel Ricciardo if he had not suffered an Energy Recovery System (ERS) failure in Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.
It was his first mechanical failure and retirement in five years — and came in front of the tifosi at their home race.
But he gave the home fans a positive message about the team and his future in the aftermath of the race.
Alonso ran seventh in the early lap, but fell to ninth after being passed by Finn Valtteri Bottas in his Williams and then being beaten through the pits by Mexican Sergio Perez of Force India.
Alonso was forced to retire after 29 laps. He said: “For me, it was possible to be fifth, to be honest, because I think we were quicker than Ricciardo and we were in front of him in that [early] part of the race.
“With the first stint, we were very competitive, but unfortunately we could not overtake because when four cars are in a group the last three cars all open DRS.
“When we pitted, we found ourselves behind the train of cars with no possibility of overtaking. Thirty laps from the end, we tried to change a little bit the approach and I backed off from the cars in front and, then at that point, started having the engine problem.”
He repeated his pre-race statement that he had no intention of leaving Ferrari, despite widespread speculation linking the two-champion Spaniard with a move to McLaren.
“This is my team and I am staying here, it is special and it when you are at Monza that you can feel the feelings of the people for Ferrari. I am staying here.”
