Fernando Alonso's Ferrari had ERS, brake issues in Monaco GP

[AfterLife]

Monaco GP: Fernando Alonso's Ferrari had ERS, brake issues

Fernando Alonso feared he could have been forced to retire from the Monaco Grand Prix on the first lap after an ERS problem with his Ferrari engine.
Alonso qualified fourth with what he described as his best lap of the year, but fell to sixth at the start of the race.
The Spaniard, who lies third in the Formula 1 drivers' championship, admitted his Ferrari lost power for the first few corners.
"The electric engine [ERS] didn't work so I didn't have the power going until Turn 3 [Casino Square]," said Alonso.
"I had a good jump, but I didn't have any more power to keep going.
"But the McLarens were fighting and also it is not completely straight so I was lucky that no one else overtook me.
"It was more stressful after Turn 1 [Sainte Devote]. Between Turn 1 and 3 I was very, very slow and I was a little bit worried I would have to retire after lap one. And then suddenly the electric motor started working."
Alonso conceded that, even if he had full power, he would probably have been boxed in on the run to Ste Devote.
"If I did have the power available I would have had to brake anyway because I didn't have the space," he added. "I tried to go to the left at one point but Kimi [Raikkonen] was doing a good start so it was not the place to go."

BRAKE PROBLEMS AT END

After problems for Ferrari team-mate Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, Alonso chased Daniel Ricciardo for third, but suffered brake issues in the closing stages.
"At the end we had some brake problems," said Alonso.
"The car was braking with only right brakes so I had to hold the steering to the left.
"Once you are in that position you just try to bring the car safely home and get these points, but obviously we will try to do better next time."
Despite the issues, Alonso believes fourth was the best the F14 T could manage in Monaco.
"Fourth was the maximum," he said. "The top three showed their potential and that they were faster than me.
"I'm happy with the weekend in general. The race was difficult, it was tough, but I've got more points than I had yesterday."

Source: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/114137

[AfterLife]

Well Done Fernando Alonso. :bow

[Ferrari Rules]

Well Done Fernando Alonso. :bow

+1

[bonzo]

Where is our reliability?

[ManFromMilan]

As always Fernando, great job!!

[Greig]

Where is our reliability?

LOL

[sachin]

The Man is a genius.:bow

[Hermann]

So much for: 'Fernando desinterested'. Gotta love armchair experts.

[Alonsomaniac]

The Man is a genius.:bow

There wasn't much genius from him in this race though: no power and no room at the start and later on brakeproblems. The only thing you can do then is bring the car home and that's just what he did. Solid drive yes, but genius? No.

[Alonsomaniac]

So much for: 'Fernando desinterested'. Gotta love armchair experts.

True....:bow

[Fer138]

Thanks for posting the article Afterlife.

I was wondering why Fernando fell behind Ric by so much when at one point he was closing in to just 1.5 sec behind Ric. To be honest I was a bit disappointed as I was looking forward to a great race from Fernando after his impressive qualy. So this clears it up for me. Great drive from Fernando to bring the car home with the brake problems especially at a track like Monaco.

Let's hope these issues are resolved and the engine updates work for a great race in Canada for our boys.

[Stormsearcher]

The guy is an amazing driver isnt he. If LH had these problems.. or even the finger boy, they would have been moaning throughout the race and cussing the team. Alonso just went about doing his job and got the car home for a solid 4th. Just amazing!

[Hornet]

Where is our reliability?

Despite the problems, it's still better than Renault or Mercedes who both suffered PU failures yesterday.

PS: Merc as in Merc PU on McLaren, not the Merc car of course

[stefa]

Ferrari must do EVERYTHING to ensure that they don't loose him!

[Senna4Ever]

Solid drive yes, but genius? No.

you're right
less breaks means more speed ... as we know: who breaks just looses ...

a bit sarcasm included ...

[Greig]

Getting the car home with only the right hand side brakes working is amazing, getting it home while going around Monaco is touching genius levels IMO.

[Kyss4k]

Wow he had to be lifting a lot into the turns with that issue. With the bite these brakes have, it had to be a huge challenge. Great job!

[Stormsearcher]

And to think the commentators were bothered about a lil bit of grit in Hamiltons eye. :lol

[Kingdom Hearts]

Good job by Fer, it must be hard to do so many laps with the brakes in that condition.

[Nero Horse]

Well that certainly explains why Alonso had such a quiet and mediocre race. It wasn't at all because he was "not interested" as some here claimed after the race lol. In the light of this info, that 4th place is a really good result. Good job Fernando! :thumb

[Kingdom Hearts]

Well that certainly explains why Alonso had such a quiet and mediocre race. It wasn't at all because he was "not interested" as some here claimed after the race lol. In the light of this info, that 4th place is a really good result. Good job Fernando! :thumb

Where do you see the mediocritiy in his race?.


Great off the line, blocked by RB, electric engine problems at the start, no challenge from behind, car not fast enought to challenge the guys in front, severe problems with breaks, bring car home to get 12 points. Far from mediocre, maybe the word is invisible.

[Nero Horse]

Where do you see the mediocritiy in his race?.


Great off the line, blocked by RB, electric engine problems at the start, no challenge from behind, car not fast enought to challenge the guys in front, severe problems with breaks, bring car home to get 12 points. Far from mediocre, maybe the word is invisible.

Compared to his usual high standards he did have a fairly anonymous and mediocre race imo, but the mechanical issues explain that. And besides, Alonso's mediocre race is still a whole lot better than some other driver's best ever race. ;-)

[Alonsomaniac]

The moment such problems arise, people like Vettel or Hamilton make a lot of noise over the radio and then loose concentration and get into serious trouble. Fernando is different. He realizes he has a problem, and from that moment on it all becomes quiet. He concentrates 110% on driving a crippled car the best possible way to bring it home in one piece, as fast as he can without crashing it.
Just another strong point of him as a driver.

[Alonsomaniac]

Ferrari must do EVERYTHING to ensure that they don't loose him!

Don't worry, he doesn't even want to go.

[Alonsomaniac]

Compared to his usual high standards he did have a fairly anonymous and mediocre race imo, but the mechanical issues explain that. And besides, Alonso's mediocre race is still a whole lot better than some other driver's best ever race. ;-)

You start to sound like a Fernando Alonso fan....:lol

[Nero Horse]

You start to sound like a Fernando Alonso fan....:lol

:-D ...Well, I'll always be a Ferrari fan first and foremost, but as a Ferrari fan I'm Alonso fan as well in a way, cause as long as Fernando is a Ferrari driver I always want him to do well and get the best maximum results possible. And of course, as a normal thinking person with an eyesight, I also know that he's an absolutely superb and amazing driver, there's no doubt about that.

[Alessandra]

Getting the car home with only the right hand side brakes working is amazing, getting it home while going around Monaco is touching genius levels IMO.

+1
But wouldn't it be wonderful to see his 'genius' in action in a great car , just now and again? How will future F1 fans know that this was one of the best drivers if all they will ever see is re-runs of him chucking the car from left to right and back again in order to keep it ahead of the person behind him.
Oh for a few wicked, arching overtakes in a car that sweeps and slices through the pack!

[sachin]

+1
But wouldn't it be wonderful to see his 'genius' in action in a great car , just now and again? How will future F1 fans know that this was one of the best drivers if all they will ever see is re-runs of him chucking the car from left to right and back again in order to keep it ahead of the person behind him.
Oh for a few wicked, arching overtakes in a car that sweeps and slices through the pack!

yes,but it would be good if he has a few more WDC to show future fans.(specially with Ferrari):-D
of course that doesn't take anything away from him.
He is the best of this grid for sure.
:thumb