Italian GP: Ferrari lick wounds after bad day at home

Monza: Ferrari felt the pain on Sunday after emerging with just two points from a hard day in front of their home fans at the Italian Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso had started the day as the only driver to score in every race this season but his involvement ended after 29 laps when he pulled over and parked up with a problem with the car`s energy recovery system.

It was the first time in 86 races, since the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix, that the Spaniard had been halted by a mechanical failure.

His last race retirement was in Malaysia in March last year when he collided with Mark Webber and ended up in the gravel.

Team mate Kimi Raikkonen had crossed the line 10th but moved up to ninth place after McLaren`s Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen was penalised for forcing the Williams of Valtteri Bottas off the track.

The meagre haul, coupled with third and fourth places for Williams with former Ferrari driver Felipe Massa back on the podium in third place, saw Ferrari slip to fourth in the constructors` standings behind Williams.

"In Formula One, as in sport in general, there are days to forget and this was certainly one of them," said team principal Marco Mattiacci.

"Unfortunately, we had no way of predicting the problem that affected Fernando`s car, but I am sorry that it happened right here in Monza at our home race."

Ferrari had always known Spa and Monza, two high-speed low-downforce tracks, would be difficult for the characteristics of their car with Alonso qualifying only seventh and Raikkonen starting 11th.

The fans still made their allegiances clear, with the main grandstand on the pit straight festooned with banners and messages of support.

As ever, a red wave of tifosi flooded the historic Monza straight overlooked by the podium after a grand prix Ferrari last won with Alonso in 2010.

"After a long run of trouble-free races, it`s a real shame I had to retire just here in Monza, in front of all our fans," said Alonso. "I would have liked to have put on a very different race for them."