Frustrated by his result at the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso revealed that he had problems with his engine during the race. A new reliability problem that did not allow the Spaniard to build on his excellent qualifying, which saw him start second on the grid. And this is starting to seriously annoy the two-time world champion publically ranted about the poor Renault reliability that’s blighted only his car thus far.

What disillusionment for Fernando Alonso. The Spanish driver had enjoyed a perfect weekend so far, performing brilliantly in free practice before confirming his excellent pace in qualifying with a magnificent second place on the starting grid, something he had not done since 2012 and the German Grand Prix, which he won. As a result, the two-time world champion had good reason to be ambitious and was aiming for at least a top five finish, especially as Charles Leclerc and Sergio Pérez were starting very far back on the grid, which left opportunities for the other drivers.

But Fernando Alonso was not able to take advantage of this. Despite a decent start and a well-managed first stint in which he kept pace with Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz, while keeping Lewis Hamilton at bay, the Spaniard lost everything because of the poor team strategy during the two virtual safety car periods. Unlike many of his rivals, Fernando Alonso didn’t stop, which cost him dearly at the end of the race. At the finish, the Spaniard was seventh before suffering a five-second penalty that cost him two more places and a frustrating ninth place.

Fernando Alonso was hoping to pick up some big points, but in the end he had to settle for ninth place, while Esteban Ocon was sixth. However, the Spaniard pointed out that he had once again encountered reliability problems. Fernando Alonso has been unlucky since the start of the season and is even beginning to get annoyed that he is the only one to regularly suffer problems with his car.

“We had an engine problem on lap 20. It was cutting off the power very early on the straights, as soon as we came out of the corners. We tried to fix it but it didn’t work. Up until then we were fighting for the podium.

“At the beginning of the race I felt strong compared to Hamilton, we just didn’t have the pace of Verstappen and Sainz, but it was fine to control Hamilton and the Mercedes. When the engine problem happened, it was just trying to survive, trying to get the DRS, driving like a kamikaze in the corners before the detection, because the DRS was my only safety on the straight.

“It’s obviously another reliability issue, on car 14 only, so it’s disappointing. I’m here to do better than sixth and seventh. The reason we didn’t finish on the podium or higher was because we had a reliability problem on car 14, and unfortunately maybe because of the virtual safety car, but you can’t control your luck.

“The reliability on car 14 should have been a little better”, he said in comments featured in the French publication L’EQUIPE.