"It always seem like there is reliability issues for Car #14" - Fernando Alonso rues lost points after 2022 F1 Mexican GP

Fernando Alonso believes it’s only his car that suffers from reliability issues, as he reviewed his race after retiring from the 2022 F1 Mexican GP. The Spaniard mulled his retirement as he was running seventh for the majority of the race when he suffered an engine failure.

Speaking to the on-site media after the race, Alonso said:

“Car #14 stops and it always seem like there is reliability issues for Car #14. 20 laps before the end, I lost one cylinder, so I was running with five cylinders, so I had 20% less power. I was 20 seconds in front of the McLaren and my teammate [Esteban Ocon] - so I think until that point, the race was exceptional. Here and Austin, I did my best races in terms of pace. I think I lost 60 points [already] this year, so we add another six [for seventh place], so it is 66. Obviously, everyone else then scores two more points than what they should.”

Having suffered DNFs in five races, Fernando Alonso calculated that he had lost 66 points in total, mostly due to reliability issues. The Spaniard was running seventh and comfortably ahead of his teammate Esteban Ocon when he suffered an engine failure and retired. The double world champion questioned how his car was the only one suffering from reliability issues.

Expressing his thoughts on this season, the Spanish driver said:

“It's just amazing that only one or two cars retire from every race, and it is always Car #14 which blew up five engines I think this year. We had a [hydraulic problem] in Australia and then at the [sprint race] in Austria, I didn't even start because it was a blackout. So I think it is 19 races, and in more or less than 50% of them, we didn't score the points we deserved. My level is the highest at the moment of the season and the results and the standings at the end of the year will be one of the lowest, so it's a little bit frustrating but there's nothing I can do."

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Fernando Alonso compares Honda-McLaren situation with Alpine

The Spanish champion wasn’t too delighted with his fifth retirement from a race this season, comparing his current situation to that of McLaren-Honda in the past. Comparing the two instances, Fernando Alonso claimed that during his time at Woking, both cars had retirements, whereas with Alpine this year it has only been his car suffering from reliability issues.

Speaking to the on-site media after the race, Alonso said:

“With Honda, we had like 72-place penalties at the end of the year so something like that. The thing with Honda, both cars were stopping. This year, it is only car 14.”

Asked if luck was a factor in play with poor results this year, Fernando Alonso said:

“We are unprepared. The engine cannot finish the races so it cannot be bad luck to change six or seven engines as we did and we are still not finishing the races. They have some job to do next winter, hopefully not too much.”

Fernando Alonso feels Alpine has an engine that cannot complete the entire race distance without causing problems. Having replaced six engines in 19 races, the double champion reckons the French team will have a lot of their work cut out over the winter.