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Fernando Alonso was left to lament “a painful weekend” made worse by a retirement sparked by Sergio Perez’s first-corner crash in the Mexico City Grand Prix.
It was another weekend to forget for Aston Martin as it continues to try to understand its latest upgrade package introduced at the previous race in the United States.
Salt was rubbed into deepening wounds as both Alonso and team-mate Lance Stroll were forced to retire their AMR23s, the latter five laps from the chequered flag which resulted in him finishing last of the 17 classified drivers.
As for Alonso, in particular, he was left to reflect on Perez’s Turn 1 collision with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc that only added to his frustration with a retirement after 47 laps.
“A difficult weekend, a difficult race,” assessed Alonso. “I think we picked up damage underneath with some debris on lap one from Checo’s car, so even more painful with a slower car in the race.
“We are in a situation we do not wish to be in. At the same time, we are working very hard to remedy the situation, trying to do as many tests as possible, giving as much feedback as possible.
“You learn more from the difficulties than the celebrations, and hopefully we can finish on a high.
“Can we fight for a podium, or something like that? I don’t think so, but to finish in a competitive way, I think that’s possible.”
Post-qualifying, in which Alonso at least managed to get through Q1 to start 13th, he explained the difficulties he is experiencing with a car that has clearly taken a step backward since its scintillating early-season form when the two-time champion scored six podiums in the first eight races.
Across Friday and Saturday, Alonso spun on three occasions, one almost disastrously, with his skills behind the wheel keeping him out of a wall.
“It seems that we are always on the edge with the grip, and we were slow in every session, so it’s not about qualifying or anything like that.
“We had the Austin race to compare the two packages, and we had good results. We’re clearly in favour of the new package, so we don’t have any concerns about that.
“But it seems we are not very confident now in driving the car, we cannot extract the maximum, and this is penalising us a lot.”
Asked by Speedcafe as to where the car is lacking, he downheartedly replied: “A little bit of everything.
“On this track, we are losing one or two-tenths per corner. It’s not just one sector that we are missing all the lap time. It’s just gradually slow, and I don’t think it’s the setup.
“We’ve been trying different setups a lot lately. Since Singapore, we’ve been experimenting a little bit more with the car.
“Also in Austin, we had the perfect opportunity, starting from the pitlane, to experiment even further, and we had the three (practice) sessions (in Mexico), so I don’t think it’s setup.
“It’s more about the package, and as drivers, to feel more confident.”
Remarkably, Alonso even pointed an accusing finger at himself.
“I’ve felt always on the back foot, always not trusting the car,” explained Alonso. “I was not at my best, so we need all to improve.”
