For a brief while it was like the old Honda days... when around 40 laps into the French Grand Prix, a clearly seriously peed-off Fernando Alonso declared: "No brakes, no tyres, we're out of the points... I don't care too much."

But rather than park up and seek a deckchair, the Spaniard continued on his not so merry way, subsequently deciding to have a go at fastest lap.

His first attempt was compromised by the VSC that followed Lance Stroll's tyre failure and then suspension damage left him little option but to pit and retire, though he was officially classified 16th.

Explaining the radio outburst, Alonso declared it was in reaction to the excitable messages he was receiving from the team.

"On the radio the team was definitely overexcited," he said, "telling me the gaps with the fifth guy, the sixth guy...

"I was last after the safety car," he continued, "and I had a problem with the brakes overheating, I had one set of tyres for the whole race because we stopped on lap one to fit the yellow tyres so I think it was a defensive race.

"It was not frustration," he insisted, "but we know that this weekend we've been quite uncompetitive. This was by far the worst performance of the year. So, I really hope it is a one-off and not the normality.

"It was all the race on the back foot," he continued, "and from the start we had to avoid a lot of accidents in front of us. People seemed to shortcut the circuit and nothing happened. We stay on the circuit and we came last just doing that.

"It was not our race," he sighed, "and after we had a suspension problem at the end. We could not even see the chequered flag, so a not very competitive weekend for us.

"But in five days we have another opportunity to forget this, and I really hope that Austria and especially Silverstone will be better circuits for us."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by David Hasselhoff, 27/06/2018 1:33 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 27/06/2018 7:53)

"This comment was removed by an administrator as it was judged to have broken the site's posting rules and etiquette."

Rating: Neutral (0)

2. Posted by Old Fan, 26/06/2018 12:55 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 27/06/2018 7:53)

""What are you talking about, Old Fan? Alonso driving for a dollar?!
Most of his woes can be said to be caused by his love of money, not winning. He's the best paid F1 driver."

That's the point, if he really wants/expects to win races he has to be with one of the top teams. He needs to decide if millions or a Championship is more important. Even the top teams would like to save the driver's salary. None of the top teams seem interested or need him, he should make a drastic commitment to join the team of his choice. "

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3. Posted by Esteban, 25/06/2018 21:16

"We need disqus here, Pitpass, come on, get on with it."

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4. Posted by Esteban, 25/06/2018 21:15

"What are you talking about, Old Fan? Alonso driving for a dollar?!
Most of his woes can be said to be caused by his love of money, not winning. He's the best paid F1 driver."

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5. Posted by JClark-Monza1967, 25/06/2018 17:23

"One thing that bothers me: the very poor audio quality of the driver's radio. I know that there is technology that could improve it, even with the noisy environment of the cockpit."

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6. Posted by -ape-, 25/06/2018 12:45

"The crumpy old man should retaire or race in a second class series and please the journos with his tripple crown nonsense"

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7. Posted by PlayF1, 25/06/2018 12:43

"This shows how any information can be taken out of context.
If we had heard the preceding 'team message' we all would have better understood why FA reacted as he did.

To be honest, the F1 official broadcast team need to get their act together.
way too many meaningless shots ... only to learn that somebody has made a charge through the field.

... and what do we get?
A few seconds replay clip of an overtake :(

There should be a bank of 20 displays, and sufficient people monitoring where the action is taking place.
... then, get us in there (amongst the action).

These guys need to given a serious wake up call."

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8. Posted by Old Fan, 25/06/2018 12:25

"He should offer to drive for a top team for $1 for his F1 swan song. But we will probably see him in Indy cars next year."

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9. Posted by Mad Matt, 25/06/2018 12:07 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 27/06/2018 7:53)

"To be fair we don't know if there was a problem with feedback at all. Honda did also put out some (not many) press releases saying that they were close to other manufacturers in terms of power.

I don't think the problems with the Honda engine were a lot to do with McLaren apart from perhaps their insistence on the "size zero" concept, on the other hand Honda knew that from the beginning.

I think it's more a case of Honda finally getting somewhere with the engine at the same time as McLaren have made some mistakes with the current car's aero. We've seen Williams do the same thing. In recent years Williams were doing quite well and now suddenly they've turned out a pig on stilts.

Let's hop McLaren can turn it around and join the fight nearer the front."

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10. Posted by imejl99, 25/06/2018 11:39 (moderated by an Adminstrator, 27/06/2018 7:53)

"You started piece with "For a brief while it was like the old Honda days..." With every bit of news regarding McLaren woes I more and more come to admire Honda for the way they handled ill-fated partnership. For 3 years I never read or heard anything close to throwing McLaren under the bus no matter how hard Honda was criticized by press, team or driver. We will never know how much of a problem was created by lack of a quality feedback, but we will surely learn what can be achieved with partner no one ever described as clueless. "

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11. Posted by nonickname, 25/06/2018 10:58

"A sideways move to Haas or Alfa Romeo could put a smile back on his face."

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Alonso explains radio apathy

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