Alonso ‘annoyed’ at lost track time

Alonso

Fernando Alonso has admitted that he was left frustrated by his Turn 1 accident in second practice at the Yas Marina Circuit this evening, with the Ferrari driver losing valuable track time as a direct result. Despite this, the Spaniard ended the day as the third fastest man behind the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

"Just as was the case in India a fortnight ago, again here in Abu Dhabi, I lost a bit of time: there it was the engine that left me standing at the side of the track and here it was an off-track excursion," said Alonso. "It’s not that there’s a particular problem with grip at Turn 1, but if you touch the curb when braking then you do lose some grip.

"As for me and Vettel both going off the track at the same point, I saw a lot of similarities: maybe tomorrow, we will try and stay a bit more towards the middle of the track. I am annoyed about losing some time, but above all, I am sorry for the mechanics who now have extra work to do to put the car together again."

Alonso went on to talk about his prospects for the rest of the weekend, admitting that claiming pole position and victory may be out of reach.

"I don’t think I’ll be fighting for pole or the win, but the first impressions are that we are in ever so slightly better shape than we had expected to be going into this weekend," he added. "With the Soft tire we definitely feel comfortable, but also with the harder compound, we did not look so bad, as indeed we have seen in the last few races."