Fernando Alonso said that there is no justification for his performance at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Alonso crashed on the way to the net before the race, slipping off the wet track and damaging the front wing of his car. He spent most of the grand prize running outside the top ten, but was promoted to a point, after Kimi Raikkonen was hit by a penalty after the race.
Alonso, who won F1 titles in 2005 and 2006, has spent the last two years racing in other categories, but doesn’t think the break is a reasonable explanation for his performance.
“I think each of us has a different story and a different topic or difficulty,” Alonso said. “I’ve changed teams many times – I’ve even changed categories or series many times – and there’s always a period of adaptation.
“But it was never an excuse, and it’s not an excuse now. I should be better. I wasn’t at the right level this weekend, but I’ll be in Portimao.”
Alonso won in Imola in 2005, but struggled to return to the Italian circle. The race was held in changing conditions, started in the rain and ended in conditions suitable for dry tires, but with wet tracks outside the race line.
The Spanish driver said that the experience will only help him return to the previous level.
“They probably agree that it looks like that. There can be no justification for saying that – it’s quite obvious that every (our) round will feel more comfortable, and (Sunday) was one of those days when it was a tripling experience.
“From the first lap to the end we change the conditions and the level of capture so many times during the race – we had one red flag, one starting start, one starting movement. There were a lot of things to practice and a lot of things to go through, it usually takes 4-5 races , and we compressed it into one race, a lot of activity.
“I’m happy with my learning, happy to feel the car in wet conditions. Obviously the testing was one and a half days in Bahrain. It was the first time on intermediate products, dry conditions with only one narrow line on the circle.
“A lot of lessons I should spend, analyze and feel emotionally, from the first to the 63rd lap, I felt 300% better in self-confidence in the car. But this can’t be an excuse to say I didn’t do well. I have to be more prepared and ready next time – it doesn’t matter if you have little time or no time in the car, I’ll try to be better next time. “