Alpine has revealed that debris in the form of a sandwich bag led to Fernando Alonso’s early exit from Formula 1’s Bahrain Grand Prix.
Alonso qualified ninth for his comeback and battled in the lower reaches of the top 10 until he was called in to retire as a consequence of overheating rear brakes.
Alpine later explained that a sandwich wrap paper became lodged inside the rear brake duct of Alonso’s A521, causing high temperatures and damage to the brake system.
“It was a shame that we could not see the chequered flag because I really enjoyed the whole thing,” said Alonso.
“It was nice to be back racing. It was nice to feel again the adrenaline at the starting grid, the national anthem, all these procedures were very emotional today for me.
“The race itself was fun at the beginning with the start, couple of good battles on the track in the first stint and then unfortunately we had to retire the car.”
On the race Alonso commented that “I think it was definitely good and interesting to drive finally with some cars around in the same conditions because until now we met a few people on track while testing but always in different moments of your programme.
“So it was definitely good, some action as well into the first laps and the safety car restart, things like that.
“We gathered some information that you will understand I will keep for myself and for the team. It was interesting to see compared to the others.”
Esteban Ocon finished 13th but his race was compromised when he was tipped into a spin by Sebastian Vettel at the first corner.
