Double Fuel Trouble for Alonso
Fernando Alonso’s qualifying misery in qualifying in Malaysia occurred because the team fueled him twice after thinking that the first load hadn’t gone into the car.
In other words he was given enough to run double the distance he intended to in the first stint of the race.
The problem can to some degree be alleviated because he does not have to take on all of the “fuel credits” that the FIA return to him on Sunday morning. He did 12 laps in the third session, so he can now add anything from nothing to 12 laps’ worth to the fuel that is already in the tank.
The problem is that he is now starting from the fourth row rather than the front, so his original strategy has been turned on his head. The team could consider the option of running only one stop, which other cars in the race are believed to be doing.
Alonso, who also suffered an electronic glitch on his crucial final run, admitted that he was disappointed.
“A little bit,” said the World Champion. “The car was performing well all weekend, and now we are not in the position we decided, but there’s nothing we can do. We have to wait and see tomorrow, and try to be on the podium.
“There was an electronic problem in the car, with the gearshift. The traction control, the butterflies in the engine, and so on. We have to check because there were too many things in the software etc.
“Then we had a mistake with the fuel rigs. We had a problem the first time we put fuel, and we had to come in for a second time on the pit stop. We ended up with much more fuel than we expected. We can’t do anything now, and we’ll see tomorrow if it can help in the race.
“The first time we put fuel we thought there was nothing going in. So we went for the second time, but actually the first time it went OK, so we put too much.”
Alonso added the team would have to check the weight of the car after retrieving it from parc ferme, confirming that the engineers didn’t know exactly how much was aboard when it left the pits.
“It will be difficult starting from seventh, but we’ll try. We’ll try to be on the podium and score as many points as possible, and we’ll see how the race develops.”
Alonso says he’s not concerned about the engine for the race itself: “Not really. This morning we sorted out our software problem. We changed it, and it was OK. And now there are still some problems, but I think they know exactly what it is, and it’s very simple to sort out. The thing that worries me more is the fuel more than the electronics.”
However, he admitted that the rash of engine changes among other teams was a little unusual.
“We’ve seen too many changes of engine, eight I think in the first two races. It’s a little bit too much, and I’m sure it’s because it’s because the teams arrived with new V8s, and in two or three races we’ll have more reliability in the cars.”
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