Fernando Alonso signed off his tenure with Alpine F1 with yet another DNF, which the driver himself said pretty summed up his 2022 season.
The two-time world champion has failed to finish on six occasions, with just one of those down to accident damage and the rest due to a miscellany of technical issues.
He suffered a mechanical failure in Saudi Arabia, a water pump issue in Italy, and engine issues in Singapore and Mexico. Today in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, he had been running in tenth before suffering a suspected water leak on lap 27.
“Unfortunately another engine problem,” Alonso told the media in the Yas Marina paddock after his premature exit. "Another retirement for us today after we were fighting for the points and looking quite comfortable.
"Disappointed for sure. I mean millions of people are disappointed now – fans. It’s the way it is," he sighed. "It's been a little bit the summary of the year. Unfortunately on car 14 these things always seem to happen. So one more.
"Six DNFs," he continued. "There are facts that this year they’ve been against us a bit in car 14, but also [others which] didn’t count as a DNF like Australia in qualifying. The sprint race in Austria, I didn’t even start the race. Things like that.
"I think there are nine or ten reliability [issues] which at this level is already not acceptable and they all happened to my car," he continued. “It’s been a very unlucky season in terms of ... Not unlucky, I think we were not prepared reliability-wise."
"So I’m happy to happy to finish this chapter and start tomorrow the seat fit with Aston Martin, Tuesday the tyre test and hopefully a new project with more luck.”
All the problems mean that Alonso finished in ninth place in the drivers championship, 11 points behind his current team mate Esteban Ocon was suffered fewer reliability issues over the course of the year.
But their combined efforts were successful in putting Alpine into fourth place in the constructors standings ahead of their rivals McLaren.
"Importantly the team finished fourth in the constructors championship, which was the goal coming into this weekend. So well done to everyone at the team on achieving this target
Despite his justified complaints about the reliability of the A522, Alonso insisted that he still felt warmly toward Alpine despite the technical headaches he'd experienced.
"Even though it’s a goodbye to the team after this weekend, I will always think of Alpine with good memories," he said.
"I spent nine years of my life with this team and won two championships in the past with Renault, so I wish them well for the future.
“The project is amazing what they are doing in terms of recruiting people, facilities, investment, so I think good times are coming. But I cannot wait for next year.”
"I have enjoyed the last couple of years with Fernando," commented Ocon. "I wish him all the best for next year. He will always be a legend of this team and of the sport, and I look forward to racing him on-track next season."
As for today's race, Alonso said that he'd spent the first stint running behind Sebastian Vettel simply for the pleasure in watching the German driver at work for one last time in F1.
“I didn’t want to attack Seb,” he said. “I just wanted to do a few laps behind him and enjoy.”
It was Vettel's decision to retire at the end of the season that opened up the seat at Aston Martin which Alonso will take up in 2023, while Alonso's Alpine seat will go to Pierre Gasly.
Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
