Formula 1 | Alpine F1 already confirms a 1st engine lost for Alonso

Fernando Alonso will not be able to reuse the engine which suffered a breakdown in Saudi Arabia, leading to his retirement.

Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi says the Spaniard has definitely lost his first engine of the season.

Alonso was forced to retire mid-race after a warning message « cool the car » suddenly appeared on his steering wheel. Rossi says a water pump problem rendered Alonso’s IC V6 unusable for the sequel.

« It’s not the engine but the water pump, » Rossi told AutoHebdo.

« This led to a lack of cooling and subsequently a cascade of events: the engine cooled less, the oil heated up, etc… creating more problems. »

« The water pump was failing. The cause of the problem has been identified. Hopefully it will have been fixed for Melbourne. This is a young problem with the new organs working for the first time and which we haven’t had the opportunity to validate yet, as is the case for all teams. The advantage is that it is neither structural nor intrinsic. The engine itself even, its design, or the architectural choices made are not to be called into question, because the engine does what is expected of it. »

« The problem is that this accessory is integrated into the engine. The water pump ended up disintegrating and falling into the engine. If we had wanted to repair it, we would have had to break the seal. The engine is therefore lost for us. Even if his physical integrity is not directly affected, for us it is one less engine. »