Fernando Alonso said he was “unlucky” to crash out of the Australian Grand Prix after hitting gravel which had been dragged onto the racing line.
The Aston Martin driver spun into a barrier at the exit of turn six on lap 33. The track was drying out at the time and most of his rivals pitted for slick tyres shortly afterwards.“The incident came from nowhere, to be honest,” said Alonso after the race. “I was a little bit surprised about losing the car.”
“I was not wider than any other lap,” he told the official F1 channel. “I just found a lot of gravel stuck there in the middle of the circuit, and then I spun.
“So it was a very costly incident, but I don’t know really what to do differently. Let’s try to analyse it a little bit better. I think it’s a little bit of an unlucky incident.”
He was running in the points when he crashed. “I was 10th, Antonelli was 11th, I don’t know if I could keep the point in our pocket,” said Alonso. “But hopefully we’ll get better. We have another chance in five days, that’s the good thing.”
“I think the pace was similar to the midfield,” he added. “I was fighting with Gasly, Antonelli was clearly faster but [it was] not that easy to overtake us.
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“So all in all, I think we are in the mix. Some weekends will be better, some weekends will be a little bit more difficult, but we will try to improve.”
Alonso’s team mate Lance Stroll brought some cheer to Aston Martin by bringing his car home in sixth place. However he admitted he never felt comfortable in the challenging conditions.
“Confidence was a big word out there today,” said Stroll. “I never had a lot of confidence.
“The conditions were so tricky [on] the dry tyres, just one dry line, and then everything else was wet, and then vice-versa on the inters. It was super-tricky, so I think it was just about keeping it clean, and we did that.”
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BasCB (@bascb)
16th March 2025, 8:34
Ok, interesting, didn’t see the gravel, but I guess Alonso must have felt it (they sure can’t SEE gravel on the track the camera does not see)
Peyton
16th March 2025, 15:41
I’m pretty sure you can see the car ahead going slightly wide, probably bringing gravel and water on Alonsos line. Unlucky.
hje
16th March 2025, 8:40
25th year of Alonso not making any mistakes, and always finding an excuse for everything officially began.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
16th March 2025, 18:37
I think his argument is fair, they were all pushing through that kerb on the outside, piastri had touched the gravel a few laps before. Many did. He put his left wheels there every time, but this time it was too slippery. Is it a mistake? Yes. Was it unlucky? I think yes, too
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
16th March 2025, 10:11
There did seem to be a lot of gravel escaping onto the track whenever turn 6 was shown. Maybe it was the negative kerb. Next year, they should install a double negative kerb.
Miguel Bento (@miguelbento)
16th March 2025, 11:10
> Next year, they should install a double negative kerb.
Humm, would that make it a… positive kerb?
Patrick (@paeschli)
16th March 2025, 10:59
Stroll sixth when he’s not feeling confident, not bad
Postreader
16th March 2025, 11:41
At least he was trying to push hard while everyone else spun off because the initial torque makes this cars hilariously twitchy at corner exits.
erikje (@erikje)
16th March 2025, 12:41
Does this mean everyone else should get a penalty for causing his crash?
J765
16th March 2025, 13:58
I’m glad the medical car was fast to bring him the walker and he was able to leave the track fast for the race to continue.