It seems that this year Fernando Alonso cannot have a single race without surprises, generally negative ones. On this occasion, the Alpine rider has climbed back to the points despite being forced to repeat a stop.
Alpine He has returned to put his two single-seaters in the points. And, once again, Esteban Ocon had a placid race with the final prize of fifth position, while Fernando Alonso had to face all the difficulties.
The Spanish rider started penultimate on the hard tyres, betting on a counter strategy with which to try to make his strong pace prevail. At the exit, Fernando Alonso he was unable to gain positions, but soon made some overtaking before being caught in a DRS train.
Loading tweet…
1546126191853047808
The points seemed complicated at that moment, but the degradation of the tires began to be greater than expected for all the drivers, something that Fernando Alonso knew how to take advantage of to keep himself with options.
And when he virtual safety car arrived as a result of Carlos Sainz’s engine breaking, Fernando Alonso took advantage of it to make his last stop and gain time with respect to those who had already stopped.
The problem came when, at the stop, a wheel was screwed wrongforcing Fernando Alonso to drive carefully for a full lap and stop again to tighten it.
Loading tweet…
1546129815794642944
This left him in 14th position, although with new medium tires and a few laps ahead. Fernando Alonso attacked with everything and, on the last lap, slipped into the points by overtake Valtteri Bottas for tenth position.
possible sanction
“The truth is that it was a difficult race. Starting so far back, we had a lot more pace, but we were all on a DRS train and no one overtook. We lost a lot of time there, “Fernando Alonso told the press at the end of the race.
“And then, at the end, I think we could have finished sixth, but we had to do another pit-stop one after the other. I don’t know what happened but I had a lot of vibrations in a tire»revealed Fernando Alonso.
The Spanish driver retains the good of this weekend, the sensational pace and competitiveness of the Alpine A522 when there are no mechanical problems or strategic or pit errors.
“Both at Silverstone and here, I think they have been my two best races. There we could finish fifth and here only tenth, but I felt much faster than the cars we were fighting and that’s a good feeling.”he concluded.
Now it remains to be seen if the stewards decide to sanction only Alpine as a team or also Fernando Alonso, since leaving the pits with poorly tightened tires is prohibited. Generally, these situations are resolved with a significant economic sanction for the team, leaving the pilot’s result unchanged.
Photos: Alpine F1 Team