Fernando Alonso has described Formula 1's attempt at driver introductions "a bad copy" of the Indianapolis 500, which the Spaniard competed in this year.
Famous announcer Michael Buffer gave each driver their own introduction to the grid for the United States Grand Prix as part of Liberty Media's new "entertainment plan", and whilst reaction on social media was mixed, Alonso wasn't a big fan of the idea.
"In a way it was similar with the same result," Alonso said after he retired from both the Indy 500 and the US GP following Honda engine troubles, before adding: "The only thing that was not similar was the driver presentation, which was a bad copy, but the rest it was quite similar outcome."
Alonso was running in seventh when he retired and says the fact McLaren were 'best of the rest' behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, made the retirement even more frustrating than normal.
"I think it was a race that no one gave us anything. It was not a gift that we were seventh, we fought for that," he told Channel 4.
"We had a good qualifying performance, we had a good start. We were fighting in the race hard. I think we were seventh because we were seventh-quickest.
“And we lost that opportunity. The last four or five race we lost 20, 30 points that probably could help my classification in the drivers’ standing and also the constructors’ standing for the teams. We missed this opportunity. We start last in Japan. We will start last in Mexico as well so that’s tough."
