Fernando Alonso looks set to start the Monaco GP from the back of the grid after his Ferrari team admitted defeat in the race to rebuild the Spaniard’s car following its practice shunt.

Alonso lost control of the F10 on the rise to Massenet, ripping off its right-hand side as it scraped along the barriers, and left the Scuderia with just over two hours to completely reconstruct the machine before it was due to hit the track for the first phase of knock-out qualifying. Whispers from the paddock in Monaco now suggest that the team will not be able to make the deadline.

“Fernando Alonso will not make qualifying after his P3 crash. Car very badly damaged.” BBC pit-lane reporter Lee McKenzie claimed on her Twitter feed.

As a result, the double world champion will start the most grid-critical event of the year from 24th and last, not only a long way behind his championship rivals, but also behind the six newcomer cars that many had suggested ought to be given their own qualifying session owing to the speed difference to the more-established runners.

Free practice times (3)

1. Robert Kubica Poland Renault-Renault 1m 14.806s

2. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 14.852s

3. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 1m 14.945s

4. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 15.038s

5. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1m 15.046s

6. Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 15.236s

7. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 15.252s

8. Sebastien Buemi Switzerland Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 15.537s

9. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 1m 15.659s

10. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 15.682s

11. Vitantonio Liuzzi Italy Force India-Mercedes 1m 15.691s

12. Jaime Alguersuari Spain Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 15.769s

13. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Williams-Cosworth 1m 16.164s

14 Rubens Barrichello Brazil Williams-Cosworth 1m 16.232s

15. Vitaly Petrov Russia Renault-Renault 1m 16.240s

16. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 16.266s

17. Kamui Kobayashi Japan BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 16.644s

18. Pedro de la Rosa Spain BMW Sauber-Ferrari 1m 16.696s

19. Heikki Kovalainen Finland Lotus-Cosworth 1m 17.782s

20. Jarno Trulli Italy Lotus-Cosworth 1m 17.865s

21. Lucas di Grassi Brazil Virgin-Cosworth 1m 18.063s

22. Bruno Senna Brazil HRT-Cosworth 1m 19.720s

23. Karun Chandhok India HRT-Cosworth 1m 19.781s

24. Timo Glock Germany Virgin-Cosworth no time

all times unofficial

Next story

Previous story