Fernando Alonso Reflects on U.S. Grand Prix: "An Amazing Race Despite the Setback"

Fernando Alonso talks about his performance at the U.S. Grand Prix, highlighting the "amazing race" and "good news" despite having to retire in the final laps.

October 23 — Spanish Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) chose to focus on the "good news" following an "amazing race" at the United States Grand Prix this Sunday. Starting from the pit lane, Alonso was in contention for eighth place before being forced to retire in the closing laps.

"It was an amazing race in the end. Starting from the pit lane, we would have finished eighth; it was a different kind of race. We had much more pace and could easily overtake in the midfield, getting closer to [George] Russell," Alonso said in an interview with Dazn, as reported by Europa Press.

The two-time world champion celebrated the change in narrative after a challenging weekend. "The good news is that we were competitive. The bad news is having to retire. I'm not sure if it was a suspension issue or a problem with the floor, but something broke, and we had to stop," he stated.

The disappointment was palpable for Alonso, who was on track for a strong finish. "It hurts a bit more when you start from the pit lane and are set to finish eighth; it's tough, but that's racing. We'll have to analyze it. We had a new car all weekend. We'll put everything on the table and draw conclusions. We wanted to leave Austin with some insights for Mexico, and today's race served as a practice session for that. We were much more competitive than the rest of the weekend, so there are good news," he concluded.