Unlucky Mexico GP for Fernando Alonso
Perhaps next time, Fernando Alonso will try to let the milestone pass unnoticed. His celebrations with Aston Martin for reaching the remarkable milestone of 400 GPs (though his actual starts are 397, as he didn’t start in three instances, retiring before the lights went out) lasted only a few minutes. A brake system overheating issue forced the two-time world champion to park his AMR24 in the garage. This unlucky outcome had already happened in previous milestone races for his 200th and 300th GPs in F1.
The 300th GP, Canada 2018
During his 300th F1 appearance, Alonso was also forced to park his car before the checkered flag. In the 40th lap of the 2018 Canadian GP, his McLaren failed due to exhaust failure. It was the seventh race of a season in which McLaren, now using Renault engines, hoped to turn the page after the disastrous Honda engine years. Things didn’t go as planned: after a decent season start—Fernando finished fifth at the Australian GP, shouting “Now we can fight” over the radio in clear reference to the previous engine—he experienced a series of retirements and disappointing performances, ending the season 11th in the standings with 50 points, four fewer than he had scored two years earlier with Honda.
The 200th GP, Malaysia 2013
Going even further back, Fernando Alonso’s 200th F1 appearance took place at the 2013 Malaysian GP. Celebrated by Ferrari on the eve of the weekend, Fernando started third on the grid, but at the start, after overtaking teammate Felipe Massa, he damaged his front wing in contact with rival Sebastian Vettel (later involved in a controversial overtake on teammate Webber despite the team’s “Multi 21” radio order to hold positions). Together with the pit wall, Alonso decided not to stop for a wing change, but it broke at high speed on the main straight, ending his race.
For the only “round-number” race in which Fernando Alonso saw the checkered flag, we have to go back 17 years to his 100th GP celebration, held in Istanbul in 2007. On that occasion, Fernando started fourth on the grid and finished third with his McLaren-Mercedes, behind the two Ferrari cars of Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.
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