Fernando believes his retirement from the US Grand Prix was a ‘missed opportunity’ after running solidly inside the points.
The Spaniard started eighth on the grid and had competitive pace against those around him, which included both Force India’s and fellow compatriot Carlos Sainz Jr on his debut for Renault.
“Today I think we really deserved to collect some points,” said Alonso. “We did a good qualifying, a good race, and made a good start, but with no reward. From our side I think it was an amazing performance.
“On the straight I lost power – I felt some vibrations in the engine and some really weird things were going on. It’s such a pity. In the last few races we have lost so many points – possibly 15 or 20 – which probably could have helped our position in the championship for myself and also the team.
“It’s painful, especially because today we were seventh on merit and we had fought for that.”
In recent races McLaren’s performance has taken a step forward and Alonso wants the results to prove how hard everyone is working inside the team, to ensure those results are possible.
“There are only three races remaining and we really want to do well, because the boys in the garage work really hard day and night to prepare the cars properly,” added the former double-world champion.
“Even this morning they had to change Stoffel’s engine and both crews were working together on that, then they prepared for the race and performed some perfect pitstops.
“Today really was a missed opportunity.”
