Fernando Alonso was left feeling ‘sorry for the fans’ who attended a disrupted Friday of running in Abu Dhabi which prompted the Spaniard to call for an extension to FP2.
FP2 saw an initial 20-minute halt in proceedings when Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz crashed heavily into the Turn 3 TecPro after just eight minutes of running.
A second, briefer stoppage came moments after the session’s resumption as Nico Hulkenberg found the barriers after spinning on the exit of Turn 1 during a qualifying simulation.
“They need to extend the session. For the fans!” Alonso exclaimed over the team radio when the session was stopped for the second time.
“With all the Red Flags, I feel for the fans because they pay [for] expensive tickets for the grandstand and they don’t see action so I’m sorry for them,” he added when asked about his Friday by the media.
Last week, FP2 for the Las Vegas Grand Prix was extended by 30 minutes following the cancellation of FP1 after just eight minutes as the circuit underwent repairs.
In Vegas, a session extension was possible as Formula 1 didn’t share the circuit with any support series. However, that was not possible for F1 today due to qualifying for the Formula 4 United Arab Emirates Trophy race being scheduled 30 minutes after FP2’s conclusion.
Alonso had vacated his seat earlier today, allowing Aston Martin development driver Felipe Drugovich to perform rookie duties during FP1.
A comprehensive lack of running means that Alonso learned “nothing” from his Friday and faces a stiff challenge tomorrow with the sole remaining practice hour coming in unrepresentative conditions compared to the dusk setting for both qualifying and the race.
“Yeah, it is important [FP2]. Obviously here in Abu Dhabi, only the FP2 really matters because of the track temperature when we qualify and race and we didn’t have FP2 and as I said, I’m sorry for the fans.
“We will try everything. Obviously, there are a good number of points that we need to recover, but you know anything can happen as we saw in the last two events.
“Anyone can have a DNF or like a Safety Car or something like that. So we will try our best, fight until the last lap and see what we can do.”
The two-time champion ended the day 11th fastest, 0.558s off of pacesetter Charles Leclerc. Team-mate Lance Stroll placed 13th fastest, a further tenth-of-a-second back.
Heading into the final round, Alonso sits fifth in the standings although level with compatriot Sainz on points but thee pair hold just a 12-point advantage over Leclerc in seventh.
Meanwhile, Aston Martin is nestled fifth in the Constructors’ Standings and trails McLaren by 12 points.
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