Fernando Alonso will start this afternoon’s Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix from the pit lane after Aston Martin has changed the set-up suspension on his car.
Alonso has experienced a challenging weekend at Imola, which began to unravel when a spin into the barrier at Rivazza 2 in FP3 risked his participation in qualifying.
While his Aston Martin crew got him out on track to compete in Q1, Alonso carried too much speed into Turn 3 on his second push run and trailed through the gravel.
The Spaniard would return to his garage and not venture back out in the closing stages, resigning him to a premature elimination with the slowest time on the board.
But although Alonso had gained a place as Logan Sargeant’s lap was deleted, Aston Martin has elected to withdraw Alonso’s car from the grid to make modifications.
As the tweaks constitute a breach of the parc ferme regulations, the FIA stewards have confirmed that Alonso will commence the 63-lap encounter from the pit lane.
Aston Martin entered the weekend with renewed optimism amid the addition of a sizeable upgrade package, but team-mate Lance Stroll also failed to advance to Q2.
Alonso had suggested that a pit lane start was a viable option available to the Silverstone-based squad, citing the need to avoid getting caught up in a start collision.
“[If] we start from the pit, there is also some benefits as well,” he said. “We saw the crash in F2 at the start as well.
“We need to avoid those kinds of things for the quantity of parts that we have, all Formula 1 teams, so it could be an option. Points, I think, are a little bit unrealistic tomorrow.”
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