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The first lap crash that forced Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, Max Verstappen, and Fernando Alonso to retire at the Singapore Grand Prix has sparked controversy in the racing community for nearly two weeks. Verstappen noted that someone in second place for the Drivers’ Title shouldn’t be making risks like the squeeze Vettel pulled, and others claimed it to be a dangerous move for the entire grid. Now, veteran driver and two-time champion Alonso has fessed up and admitted that he was so angry after the incident that he left a fist-sized hole in the wall of his driver’s room.
It was not until after watching the replay of the wreck that Alonso realized how big of an opportunity he had missed due to the wreckage. He was able to make the most of out the front straight by moving up to P3 going into turn one, but once he collided with Raikkonen and Verstappen, his chances at a success were axed. Alonso explained the situation on Thursday to Motorsport.com:
“When I saw the replay, and when I saw [Sebastian] Vettel spinning out of Turn 3, we were just behind Lewis [Hamilton], and we were on the right tire at that moment.” He continued, “So we could even try to overtake him if the moment arrives. Then probably, we lose one or two positions, but not more because it is a street circuit, no one will overtake you.”
When asked about the hole left in his room after the event, he quickly replied, “Yes… it is still there! It was frustration.”
This, of course, was not the first DNF that Alonso has suffered in 2017, but he did believe this race to be his best chance at a podium finish so far.
“And that podium could have been one of the biggest things of my career and we missed it.”
The Spaniard pointed out that the crash at Singapore stung more than previous poor results as he had such high expectations going into the race.
“Definitely it was another frustrating time,” he said. “Sometimes we are slow and we are uncompetitive and cannot do anything, like Spa and Monza. Then we wait for this couple of circuits where we know we are competitive, plus we had the rain, plus we were second or third in that moment in the corner.”
Alonso even went on to say that he thought a podium at Singapore was almost “guaranteed” and that it “would’ve been the biggest achievement of the last decade for [him].”
