Reaching the chequered flag was the only consolation for Fernando Alonso after a disappointing Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.
Starting 26th, the Spaniard never featured in the battle for victory in IndyCar’s showpiece event as hopes of becoming the second driver to complete the Triple Crown again fell short, eventually crossing the finish line in 21st.
“We didn’t have one lap of kindness, let’s say,” Alonso said post-race.
“We were struggling from the very beginning with the balance of the car, with a lot of oversteer.
“We kept changing that balance in the pit stops, reducing the front flap, doing tyre adjustments and then we started to be happy with the car.
“We were up to P15 around lap 110, which is where we wanted to be.
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“We spent half the race going from P26 to P15, and then we had a clutch problem on the car that we didn’t know how to solve.
“We finished the race without the clutch, so from that point on every pit stop we had to push the car, engage the gear and go.
“That cost us a lap and unfortunately, we kept that lap down until the end and we could not achieve anything more.”
As Alonso returns to Formula 1 at Renault for the next two years, a fourth Indy bid will have to wait until 2023 at the earliest, although with a 43-year-old Takuma Sato winning, it does offer the 39-year-old hope his Triple Crown dreams are not yet over.
But evaluating his trip to the Brickyard, Fernando focused on the positives.
“I’m happy to finish the race, cross the line and have one 500 miles in the pocket, that’s the positive thing,” he added.
“The negative is that we were out of contention very quickly with the clutch problem.
“Anyway, I think the Arrow McLaren SP team was fantastic during the race, the strategy and pit stops meant we were always gaining positions. I’m very proud of the work we’ve done over the last couple of weeks.
“We tried to race, but luck was not with us today, but I’m proud of the effort from everyone in the team.”