Fernando Alonso is hoping to banish the memory of being involved in the first corner collision between Max Verstappen and the two Ferraris in Singapore, as he heads to Sepang for the Malaysian Grand Prix.
The Spaniard was as high as third after sweeping around the outside of the field going into the Turn 1 after a great start in the wet conditions but the aftermath of the initial contact between the Red Bull and Kimi Raikkonen would see the Finn unable to avoid a second impact with Verstappen which would also wipe out the McLaren.
The incident was Alonso’s second Turn 1 crash of the year with the first also involving the Dutchman as the pair were ‘torpedoed’ by Daniil Kvyat in Austria, but what hurt more was the genuine chance of a podium the double world champion felt could have slipped away.
Nevertheless, he is hoping to make amends for that disappointment, saying in his preview ahead of Sepang: “After Singapore, I’m already eager to get back into the car and hopefully make it further than the first corner in Malaysia!
“Of course, what happened was disappointing and it’s difficult to hide your frustration when you’re the victim of someone else’s incident. I felt we had the potential to be really competitive – one of our only opportunities of the year – and it’s a shame we couldn’t bring home the points to prove it, but these things happen.”
The 36-year-old may be somewhat tempting fate with the long hairpin Turn 1 in Malaysia known to produce a few collisions at the start, just ask Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg about last year.
Fernando enjoyed a strong race at Sepang 12 months ago as he started and finished seventh, though repeating that this year would be tough, he hopes the setup challenges allow McLaren to find a good compromise.
“The configuration will work less in our favour, but of course we will still fight for everything,” he said. “There are six races left and we are still putting all our energy in finishing every race in the best possible position we can.
“Sepang will be more difficult for us in terms of set-up since the straights require good straight-line speed and power, but this track is a mixture of a lot of different characteristics, so we’ll see how much we can make up on the slower-speed corners.
“The 2017 cars will definitely be faster through there, which will surely be fun to experience, and I hope we can avoid any drama and have a solid race.”
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One concern that has been appeased was regarding the condition of his Honda engine after the big collision in just over a week ago.
“Regarding Fernando’s Singapore power unit, we were concerned that it may have been irreparably damaged but fortunately after a thorough check back at the Sakura factory we can confirm it is okay to be re-used,” F1 chief Yusuke Hasegawa said.
