Formula 1 news

Alonso dehydrated after race

Fernando Alonso was the unfortunate victim of dehydration when stepping out of his Renault at the end of the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Spaniard, who started seventh, eventually scored a point despite having no drinking water available for the duration of the race.

With the drinks pump failing before the start and track temperatures at 50°C (122°F), it was no surprise that the Spaniard was not in peak condition after the race. "We did our maximum today," he said afterwards. "The start of the race was not perfect and we lost a position, which put me down to eighth. There were no retirements and we were eighth fastest, so we finished eighth."

"We had higher expectations for this weekend, but sadly we have come away with only one point," said managing director Flavio Briatore. "Fernando did not have a good start and this compromised the rest of his race despite his best efforts. Nelson had an excellent race, moving up from 15th and driving aggressively and consistently. It's just a shame that he missed out on the points."

Piquet has been subject to media criticism so far this season but proved that he can race when needing to: "I had a strong race and the car was good," he said. "It would have been better if I could have made the first stint shorter and the second stint longer, but overall I'm happy with the day as we had a solid race, which is what we needed."

"We always aim to score points," Alonso concluded, "but we only scored one point so we need to improve at the next Grand Prix." An improvement is exactly what the Spaniard will be hoping for at his home Grand Prix in Spain on 10 May.

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