The Spanish Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), double Formula One world champion and third in the World Cup, who set the fourth time this Friday in free practice for the Canadian Grand Prix, the eighth of the year, declared on the Gilles Villeneuve circuit from Montreal that it was “a pity, for the fans”, that the first session could not be played and that “sometimes this sport shoots itself in the foot”.
The first session was interrupted, with a red flag, after five minutes; and it was not resumed -when only twelve pilots had managed to set time and none of them had done more than three laps-, due to a failure in the security cameras of the Montreal circuit, where the double Asturian world champion -the great sensation from the start of the World Championship, with five podiums in the first seven races – achieved, in 2006, one of his 32 victories in the premier class.
“I’m sorry, for the fans, that the first free practice has not been held. It’s a shame, sometimes it seems that this sport shoots itself in the foot,” said Alonso, who is third in the championship, with 99 points, 71 less than the leader, the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull), who this Friday marked the sixth time of the first day of tests.
“It’s great to race here again and see all the support from the fans, but it was a shame and a bit embarrassing that we couldn’t ride during the first session, due to technical problems,” he said.
“We didn’t have all the time we needed to understand the new evolution of the car, so we’ll have to analyze everything carefully tonight and learn more tomorrow,” said the great Asturian driver this Friday in Montreal. “We’ll be keeping an eye on the radar again as it looks like it will be a new day with mixed conditions,” he added.
