Fernando Alonso (Photo Credit: Twitter)
Fernando Alonso’s Bahrain Grand Prix came to an end prematurely because of a piece of sandwich wrapping.
- AFP
- Last Updated:March 30, 2021, 09:01 IST
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Fernando Alonso suffered a slice of bad luck when an abandoned piece of sandwich wrapping ended his Formula One comeback at Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
The errant wrapping was found inside the rear brakes of two-time champion Alonso’s Alpine car after he was forced out in the 32nd lap of his first Grand Prix since the season-ending race at Abu Dhabi in 2018.
“After the second stop, a sandwich wrap paper got stuck inside the rear brake duct of Fernando’s car, which led to high temperatures and caused some damage to the brake system,” said Team boss Marcin Budkowski.
Before the fast-food packaging slowed him down, Alonso, 39, had qualified ninth for the Renault-owned Alpine team’s first contest in their new colours.
The other Alpine driver, Esteban Ocon, finished 13th after his hopes of a points finish were wrecked by a collision with four-time champion German Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin.
“Not the best start to the season for us as we had our fair share of bad luck,” said Budkowski but he found a crumb of comfort in Alonso’s form in qualifying.
“It was a very unlucky first race for Fernando considering how strong he looked.”