Formula 1 Emilia Romagna GP

Alonso hit with F1 Imola GP pitlane start

Fernando Alonso will start Formula 1's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix from Imola's pitlane after Aston Martin made changes to his car.

Filip Cleeren

Published: May 19, 2024, 10:30 AM

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Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24, leaves the garage

Alonso only qualified 19th after being called to the pits due to a problem with his car at the end of the session, when the track was at its fastest and Alonso's Aston Martin was down to the optimal amount of fuel.

His qualifying woes followed a crash in FP3 at Rivazza, which meant his Aston Martin mechanics had to pull out all the stops to get the Spaniard's car repaired in time.

But as Alonso faced a back-of-the-grid start anyway, the team has now opted to make changes to the suspension set-up, breaching parc ferme rules and consigning the two-time world champion to a pitlane start.

Alonso hinted after his botched qualifying session that a pitlane start might not be such a bad idea.

Aston Martin brought a raft of car upgrades to Imola that it needs to further explore. In addition, the track's narrow funnel towards Tamburello might cause chaos at the start, which the two-time world champion can now stay clear of.

"If we start from the pit, there are also some benefits as well," Alonso said.

"We saw the crash in F2 at the start as well. We need to avoid those kinds of things for the quantity of parts that we have on Formula 1 teams. So yeah, it could be an option."

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Alonso feels points are unlikely to be on the table given how difficult it is to overtake around Imola, and strategic options appear limited in an expected one-stopper race.

"Points are a little bit unrealistic," Alonso added. "Let's see. I think Imola is one of the worst places to start at the back.

"I think it's the second most difficult circuit to overtake just behind Monaco. Singapore ranks easier than Imola to overtake, so that tells everything.

"It's going to be a tough race, but we should be able to learn something about the package as well."

Team-mate Lance Stroll didn't fare much better after qualifying 13th, indicating that Aston's Imola package wasn't enough to keep up with the teams around it in the midfield.

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