Alonso reveals bizarre misunderstanding over Monaco GP result

Fernando Alonso has revealed he mistakingly thought he finished in P10 at the Monaco Grand Prix last weekend.

The two-time world champion crossed the line in P11 as he endured a difficult weekend - starting with a rare Q1 elimination during qualifying.

During the grand prix, Alonso spent much of the race opening a gap for team-mate Lance Stroll to pit and retain position one spot ahead of Alonso.

The Spaniard believed that this was for the final position in the points, which he thought he inherited after Stroll pitted again for a puncture later in the race.

"I got confused because when we [built the gap] and Lance was in front of me after the pitstops, they said, 'okay, we secured 10th'. We've been doing all this for that last point," Alonso told media including RacingNews365.

"Then Lance had the puncture and I said, 'Now I have all the responsibility in my shoulders with very old tyres to bring this point back home.' I was driving for 50 laps thinking that I was 10th.”

Confusion

Alonso stated he only discovered he had not scored a championship point after the chequered flag.

"When I crossed the line and they told me P11, I said, ‘Oh, so all that stress for nothing’. But anyway, it kept me alive.”

The 43-year-old voiced confusion over the restart order after the red flag period that was deployed following a crash for a trio of cars.

"I don't know [why the situation occurred]. When the red flag came out, Lance was P10, I was P12,” he pointed out. 

“And then at one point they reinstated Sainz in P3, so we were 12th and 14th, we should be 13th and 14th, but Lance was in front of Daniel [which] he was not supposed to be.

"So I don't know in which position I started, and I don't know in which position I was driving."