Fernando Alonso blames “spirit inside the car” for unusual Qatar spin
“I don’t know what to call them, a bit paranormal, there’s a spirit inside the car.”
Fernando Alonso has pointed to “paranormal” activity as the cause of his unusual spin at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Alonso was enjoying a strong race, running inside the top six after an impressive opening stint. However, he lost control of his Aston Martin at Turn 10, spinning 360 degrees.
Fortunately for Alonso, he only lost two positions — to George Russell and Isack Hadjar.
Hadjar’s late-race puncture gave Alonso one of those places back, allowing him to leave Qatar with seventh.
Alonso enjoyed a strong weekend otherwise, also scoring points in the Qatar sprint race. Aston Martin have moved back ahead of Haas in the fight for seventh in the constructors’ championship.
When speaking after the race, Alonso referred to a “spirit inside the car” which he believes contributed to his mistake.
“No, I was taking it easy, the truth is that I wasn’t pushing 100%, but this car has disconnections, I don’t know what to call them, a bit paranormal, there’s a spirit inside the car,” Alonso said.
“Yesterday I suddenly lost the front end for three or four corners. In one of them, I suddenly went off onto the gravel, turning the steering wheel to the max. It was as if I had no front wheels…
“And today it was the rear wheels, suddenly a lash, so we’re hypersensitive to the wind, hypersensitive to one or two degrees of temperature, we’re always on a knife edge and today I made that mistake, but fortunately I was very lucky that there was no gravel, that there was nothing and that I didn’t have a train of cars behind me. There were only two at the time.”
Alonso rumours swirl
Sky Italia are reporting that Alonso and his girlfriend, Melissa Jimenez, are expecting a child.
The news hasn’t yet been confirmed by either Alonso or Jimenez.
At 44, Alonso is the oldest driver on the F1 grid, having made his debut back in 2001.
He won two titles with Renault in 2005 and 2006, while he missed out on the 2007 crown by one point. The Spaniard also had near-misses with Ferrari in 2010 and 2012.
Since 2013, Alonso hasn’t won a race after stints with McLaren and Alpine. He is now pinning his hopes on 2026 — and the first Adrian Newey-designed Aston Martin.
It could be a big year for Alonso off the track too, if Sky Italia’s report proves accurate.
Alonso could join Max Verstappen and Nico Hulkenberg as one of the only dads on the grid.
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