F1 2018: 5 Talking Points from the Monaco GP

#4 Alonso suffers first retirement

It was back in the pits for Alonso

2018 has been a rather not so bad campaign for Fernando Alonso, but the Monaco Grand Prix hosted his first retirement of the season.

This is after Alonso had finished in the points in the opening five races in Australia, Bahrain, China, Azerbaijan and Spain.

It was a broken gearbox that forced the Spaniard to accept a DNF.

Alonso was seventh in the race and looked to be settling for another top ten finish until his McLaren started slowing up and was then parked off the track on turn 1.

With teammate Stoffel Vandoorne finishing outside the points zone, this helped Force India and Toro Rosso close the gap on McLaren in the Constructors' Championship.

It was a year ago Alonso missed the Monaco race to enter the Indy 500. And he may not be seen in Monte Carlo this time next year as the 36-year-old is expected to take on the Indianapolis challenge again.