Fernando Alonso reflects on disastrous Belgian GP sprint race for Aston Martin on his birthday

Fernando Alonso endured a horrendous 2023 F1 Belgian GP sprint race on Saturday, which was also his birthday. The 42-year-old driver spun around during the second lap and stuck his car in the gravel, eventually retiring from the sprint.

Alonso told the media how he was unable to pit right after the first safety car, which was about to start the sprint race. This was mainly because his Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll was in front of him, meaning that the Canadian-Belgian driver would get to pit first. Hence, the Spaniard had to pit on the second lap.

However, soon after Alonso was out on track with fresh intermediates, he spun around a couple of times before getting stuck in the gravel trap. He admitted that it was his mistake.

Alonso said (via RacingNews365):

"Behind the Safety Car, we wanted to put the Intermediates on as soon as possible, but having [teammate] Lance [Stroll] in front meant I put them on during the second lap. I lost quite a few positions, and in the end, it was my mistake, I ended up in the gravel."

Despite retiring from the race after spinning off to the gravel trap Fernando Alonso was not too concerned. He already knew he was not going to earn any championship points simply because he was so far behind.

Alonso hopes for a better result in the 2023 F1 Belgian GP since both Aston Martin cars were unable to score points in the sprint race.

"But today we were going to take zero points, so it was zero points and in the gravel. We'll see if we can get dry laps [in the Grand Prix] and see how it goes because nobody has done it yet. I hope we can turn the page after a difficult Saturday where we got zero points with both cars," he added.

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Fernando Alonso feels there will be a tight constructors' championship battle for second place

Fernando Alonso is well aware that the constructors' championship battle for second place is getting quite intense. When Sportskeeda asked him about it, the Spaniard replied that the battle could go on until the end of the season in Abu Dhabi.

The Aston Martin driver explained how there are several strong competitors, like Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes, that are in the fight for second place.

“It’s going to be a tight battle until the end. So yeah, let's see what is the final position. We also forget that behind us there are some strong competitors and very fast teams and drivers. Ferrari and McLaren now, so we’re still P3 in the championship and we aim to finish P2 but with the feet in the ground, and knowing that it’s going to be a tight battle until the end," Alonso explained.

As of now, Mercedes is second in the constructors' championship with 226 points, while Aston Martin is third with 184 points.