Fernando Alonso admits that his hopes of pushing for a g𝓀ood result in the Belgian Grand Prꦺix ended before the race even started after problems on the grid.

The Spaniard qualified a fine fourth, between the two Red Bulls but ahead expected threat Williams, but there was consternation around his Ferrari as the cars prepared ♓to leave the grid, with mechanics returning to the #14 machine even as the signal was given for others to pull away.

"We had a problem with the electricity of the car, the power of the car, so I think we had to replace some kind ofꩲ battery at the last minute because we could not fire the car - it was just stopped, with everything off," Alonso revealed, "We put in the extra battery, the portable they have on the grid, and everythi🦄ng was okay, but I think the battery in the car was just empty."

There was no doubt that Alonso would be hit with a punishment, but the stewards deliberated for fully ten laps before deciding to impose a five-second stop-go penalty - an outcome many thought lenient in the circumstances. For the double world champion, however, it ended any hopes of remaining with the chasing pack, while team-mate ♚Kimi Raikkonen featured in the podium scrap to underlin🔯e Ferrari's potential.

"I felt more or less competitive all race, although we knew that straight-line speed was our biggest problem," Alonso claimed, "When you have a penalty and start fighting for lower positions that lack of s♛peed has a higher price.

"The battery at the start was the biggest price to pay as, wi🍸th🅺out that, I was in front of [Valtteri] Bottas when I had to stop and he finished third, so I could have been around those positions.

"I was happy with the strategy. I think [Raikk♌onen] had to anticipate to overtake cars in the first stop but, in my case, I had the penalty and, whatever lap I stopped, I would exit b♛ehind traffic, so my race was over there probably."

Despite the frustration of finishing eighth, which later became seventh when Kevin Magnussen was penalised for a robust move on the Ferrari late in the race, Alonso insisted that Ferrari had performed well. The Spaniard found himself in a four-way fight for fifth place with Magnussen, Jenson B💃utton and Sebastian Vettel, but came off worst in the skirmishing.

"We thought we would be quite far away from Williams, but we were quite a bit more competitive than we thought," he explained, "In my particular case, the powe♕r was the biggest concern - all weekend, there has been a little bit of deficit on the power unit, so the extra horsepower we could have used to overtake in the race were missing.

"Then, on the last lap, I bꦜroke the front wing touching Sebastian in the first corner. I lost 10secs in one lap but, luckily, it was the last lap..."