Italian GP: New ERS issue ended Alonso's finishing streak
Ferrari boss Marco Mattiacci says a previously unseen Energy Recovery System (ERS) problem was to blame for Fernando Alonso's retirement from the Italian Grand Prix
The issue was the first time that Alonso had retired from an F1 race with a mechanical failure since the 2010 Malaysian GP, and his first DNF of any kind since he crashed at the Sepang event in 2013.
"So far we have been good in terms of reliability but probably statistically we had to pay something to stats," said Mattiacci.
"We had an issue with ERS - we've never had this issue before.
"It happens. Everybody was having reliability issues this year [except] Ferrari, so we joined a group.
"I don't like this, it's not any kind of comfort."
Alonso was running only 10th when he retired, having qualified on row four for Ferrari's home race.
"Obviously we are not happy with the results in front of our people," said Alonso.
"To have a mechanical failure is never nice because the team is working very hard and when some parts cannot finish the race that is a hard moment for the boys.
"For the fans, we were not giving them any special result.
"Especially yesterday, we were not fast enough, and today we were struggling around position eight, seven, nine, whatever. This was not our goal.
"We have been in a difficult season but nevertheless from Thursday everyone was supporting us to the maximum here and we felt this love for our team in the good and bad moments."
Kimi Raikkonen salvaged points for the team in the second Ferrari as he has finished ninth, having struggled to make progress from 11th on the grid.
"No problems, just the grip and speed were lacking," he said.
"I could get close to other drivers, but I couldn't follow them closely.
"It was very tricky trying to pass them and the straightline speed was lacking."
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