F1 News: Fernando Alonso To Start From Pits At Imola Grand Prix

Aston Martin will be hoping a different setup sees their star driver move up the grid.

May 2, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Aston Matrin driver Fernando Alonso (14) speaks to the / Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

Fernando Alonso's already challenging weekend at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix will see further complications as he will start from the pits after changes were made to the suspension of his AMR24 during parc ferme conditions last night. This setup change hopes to cure the issues the Spaniard was facing yesterday after a series of setbacks, including a crash in Free Practice 3 and difficulties during qualifying, which left the Aston Martin driver finishing in P19, just ahead of Williams' Logan Sargeant who had his lap time deleted.

The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix has proven especially difficult for the Aston Martin driver, whose hopes for a competitive qualifying session were quashed early on. The veteran faced significant challenges from the start, requiring extensive car repairs after a crash in Free Practice 3, which included a crucial gearbox change.

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During qualifying, Alonso continued to struggle. He was unable to record a positive lap time in Q1, possibly due to the car being over-fuelled and consequently heavier. Despite striving for a perfect lap, he remained at the bottom of the timesheets. His initial lap, however, remained his fastest, and with Logan Sargeant having a lap time deleted, Alonso moved up to P19.

“It is hard. Obviously I was lacking laps today [and] we put fuel in the car for qualifying. Eventually I did my best lap on the very first lap, with a lot of fuel in the car, so I think there is more pace, but yeah, [it’s been] one of those days..." Alonso commented, as reported by Formula 1.

Minutes before the end of Q1, Alonso's session was further complicated by an incident that led to an investigation for potentially impeding Haas driver Kevin Magnussen. Although this did not result in a penalty for Alonso, it added to the overall gloom of his weekend. In contrast, Oscar Piastri received a 3-place grid penalty after a fast lap, which dropped him from P2 to P5.

Reflecting on his misfortunes and looking ahead, Alonso was candid about the impact of his performance. "Extremely tough. I think the weekend is heavily compromised, or basically over. But as I said, it’s one of those weekends, one of those days that everything goes wrong, and hopefully [we'll have] a better weekend in Monaco," he stated.

“Extremely tough. I think the weekend is heavily compromised, or basically over.

“But as I said, it’s one of those weekends, one of those days that everything goes wrong, and hopefully [we’ll have] a better weekend in Monaco.”

While Max Verstappen secured pole position and newcomers like Piastri impressed by securing spots at the front of the grid – before his penalty, at least – Alonso's experience in Imola starkly contrasted, marked by difficulties and now the additional challenge of starting from the pits.