F1 must not axe standing-starts - Alonso
A crash at the start involving Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Romain Grosjean, Lotus F1, Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber
XPB Images
Sep.5 (GMM) Fernando Alonso has rejected claims F1 should consider abandoning its standing-starts in the wake of last Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.
The Spaniard was lucky to escape serious injury when the now-banned Romain Grosjean's Lotus flew dangerously close to Alonso's exposed cockpit opening.
The incident has triggered renewed calls for F1 to ramp up the cars' head protection, while some have even suggested the sport might follow Indy's lead by getting its races up and running with a rolling start.
"The start is part of the charm of the competition (in F1)," Alonso is quoted as saying by the Spanish news agency EFE.
"I find the chase to the first corner good, where you are calculating risk and making decisions very quickly. Together with the team, a lot of preparation is put into the starts.
"It's too important a part of F1 to lose," insisted Alonso.
The former two-time world champion also baulked at recent moves to further slow the cars, because F1 single seaters "should be the fastest".
"I am surprised and upset about some of the proposed changes in the future, like electric cars etcetera," Alonso admitted.
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments