Alonso issues sprint race jibe: ‘It means nothing’

Fernando Alonso has launched an attack on the F1 Sprint following his penalty in China two weeks ago.

Alonso was issued a time penalty as well as points on his super licence after coming together with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz during the shorter race in Shanghai.

The contact ended Alonso’s race while Sainz crossed the line in fifth place.

Aston Martin lodged an appeal in protest of the penalty, with the stewards’ verdict yet to be made official.

When asked if he has an idea of the car’s pace across a longer run, Alonso replied: “Not really. Obviously, we didn’t do any long run in FP1.

“Anyway, the Sprint race means nothing, especially because we cannot fight or anything like that. We receive penalties for whatever we do.

“So just tomorrow is a day for fun, but not for us, not very interesting.”

Alonso laments 'difficult' sprint qualifying

Drivers had just one practice session in Miami to get up to speed before qualifying for the sprint commenced.

Alonso will start the shorter race from Miami from eighth place, sharing the fourth row with team-mate Lance Stroll.

“It was difficult for sure to read the grip on track and changing the tyre compound from the medium to the soft at the end,” Alonso reflected.

“It was difficult, but same for everybody. We put both cars in Q3 which was the target and let’s see [on Saturday].”