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Alonso had a clutch problem: "Luck was not with us today"
- GPblog.com
During his third Indy500 Fernando Alonso didn't get any further than P21. That was due to a problem with the clutch. For the time being it was Alonso's last chance to win the 'Triple Crown', because in 2021 and 2022 he won't be able to compete in the American class because of his Renault return to Formula 1.
“We were struggling from the very beginning with the balance of the car," Alonso is quoted by The Race. The two-time world champion suffered from a lot of oversteer. "We kept changing that balance in the pit stops, reducing the front flap, doing tire adjustments and then we started to be happy with the car."
Alonso had to start the race from P26, but after 110 laps the driver was fifteenth. "That's where we wanted to be, but then we had a clutch problem we couldn't solve. We finished the race without the clutch, so from that point on every pit stop we had to push the car, engage the gear and go. That cost us a lap and unfortunately, we kept that lap down until the end and we could not achieve anything more", he explains.
Although the 39-year old driver didn't manage to compete at the front, he is still proud of his team's work. "I’m happy to finish the race, that’s the positive thing. The negative is that we were out of contention very quickly with the clutch problem. Anyway, I think the Arrow McLaren SP team was fantastic during the race, the strategy and pit stops meant we were always gaining positions. I’m very proud of the work we’ve done over the last couple of weeks. We tried to race, but luck was not with us today, but I’m proud of the effort from everyone in the team", concludes Alonso.