Alonso scolds F1 for ‘shooting itself in the foot’ with “embarrassing” FP1

Friday’s running in Montreal was heavily disrupted after the first session was wrecked by a technical problem with the track CCTV which led to FP1 being shortened with almost no meaningful running completed by the teams. 

Officials took the decision to extend the second session by half an hour to 90 minutes in a bid to help teams make up for some of the lost track time. 

Asked if Aston Martin had learned what they needed to, an unimpressed Alonso replied: “No, not at all. It was a shame, it was not ideal for the teams. 

“But mostly for the fans, they came very early to the circuit and we were not able to run in FP1. 

“From time-to-time, it seems that we are shooting in our feet as a sport. These things are a little bit embarrassing.”

The two-time world champion was surprised F1 did not have a contingency plan in place and said he was unable to get a proper feel for Aston Martin’s upgrades.

“We didn’t have time because FP1, unfortunately the cameras or whatever didn’t work and we didn’t have a Plan-B in all this time in this sport,” he added. 

F1 and the FIA did devise a solution which would have utilised FOM trackside cameras to ensure FP2 took place on time. 

But the backup system was not needed in the end after the issue was resolved by local organisers before the session commenced.