Fernando Alonso has returned to the points and, after ninth place in Barcelona, adds a seventh place in Monaco. The one from Alpine used a strategy to ensure that position at the end of a race that went through all kinds of conditions.
The Monaco Grand Prix He had a bit of everything thanks to the rain, which appeared 10 minutes before the start of the race and led to a considerable -and inexplicable- delay.
Once the 20 Formula 1 single-seaters were launched, the strategies began to take on a relevant importance, since it was necessary to decide the right time to change tires from extreme rain to intermediate or directly to dry, as was the case of Fernando Alonso, among others.
“When they told me that Esteban had a 5-second penalty, I started to open up a bit of a gap”
There was also a big accident, starring Mick Schumacher, which caused a Red flag and a ‘new’ reduced race already on dry. In all of this, Fernando Alonso neither gained nor lost positions, finishing in the same seventh place in which he qualified on Saturday.
“A long run, I don’t even know what time it is, but the people at home will be a bit bored because there have been many hours of racing and in all conditions, ”Fernando Alonso commented with a laugh at the end of the race. “At the beginning it wasn’t even possible to get out, because of the grip and visibility, and then intermediates, in the dry… we’ve been through everything.”
«It was very easy to make a mistake, but we have always been focused and these are good points. Maybe we could have done sixths, because I think I entered a lap too late to put dry tires »lamented the Alpine pilot.
Alonso’s rhythm that drives Hamilton crazy
After the red flag, some pilots chose to continue until the end of the race with hard tires, but several were those who opted for new means. Fernando Alonso was in this second group, although I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get to the end with an Alpine which is not one of the best in this section.
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“We knew that with our car it was too optimistic to do 33 laps with yellow (medium) tyres, so I did a lot of tire management”explained Fernando Alonso after being asked about his pace at the start of this second race after the red flag.
Not surprisingly, the Spaniard came to roll up to three and four seconds slower than normal, losing half a minute to Lando Norris in a few laps. This drove Lewis Hamilton crazy, who was unable to overtake Alonso despite everything.
«Then, when they told me that Esteban (Ocon) had a 5-second penalty, I started to open a little gap, but Hamilton, either he no longer had tires or he no longer had the chip to go faster, he was a bit angry. Well, it is what it is”, Alonso concluded with a smile on his face.
Finally, Esteban Ocon lost the points for ninth position and, with said sanction for touching Hamilton himself in an attempt to overtake the Mercedes driver, down to 12th. And it is that, when Alonso increased the pace, the seven-time champion continued to roll slowly and the Frenchman could not open the gap that he needed so much.
Be that as it may, Fernando Alonso now has 10 points in the general championship standings, with Alpine sixth in the constructors’ ranking to one behind Alfa Romeo, which is fifth.
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Photos: Alpine F1 Team | Motor.es