Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso finished the British Grand Prix in P9 – taking home a solid points haul – though he was not impressed with the team’s strategy decisions.
Despite finishing in the points, Alonso felt there were points left on the track and the team failed to capitalize on the various safety cars and changing conditions.
“It seems that P3 was very possible. I started P7, finished P9. Nico started P18, finished P3,” he told the media after the race.
“So I think if you get it right, we know in these mixed conditions how good the result could be.
“It seems that we are not nailing the strategy always on these conditions, especially on my side of the garage. For whatever reason, we are always a little bit slow to react.”
Alonso was furious with the team during the race as his teammate, Lance Stroll, managed to make up several positions by staying out during safety cars.
Those decisions weren’t made from Alonso’s side of the garage, which led to frustration on the radio.
His luck eventually turned his way after Alonso made the bold decision to pit for slick tires on lap 38 of the race. He was the first driver to take the risk and put on the medium tire.
At first, he was sliding around due to the track still being wet, but he eventually managed to make the switch pay off.
The decision to opt for the medium tire helped him move up from P14 to eventually finish ninth, although graining issues limited his ability to pass other cars.
After the race, Alonso was left wondering what could have been if he had been in a similar position to Stroll, who ran in third for a good part of the race.
“Yeah, I don’t know, I would like to have his track position to be honest and try to feel the deg from that because I was P14 when everyone switches to dry, so I don’t know,” the Spanish driver said.
“I think he was with the soft at the end, so maybe we grained the tyres more than the others because I had the medium and I had some graining as well, so I imagine the soft was maybe even worse.”
While dropping two positions from his starting spot is a bitter pill to swallow, Alonso did well to rescue some points.
For the second half of the season, Aston Martin will need to review its strategy to identify areas for improvement and avoid missing out on more points.
British Grand Prix Race Results
- Lando Norris – McLaren
- Oscar Piastri – McLaren
- Nico Hulkenberg – Sauber
- Lewis Hamilton – Ferrari
- Max Verstappen – Red Bull
- Pierre Gasly – Alpine
- Lance Stroll – Aston Martin
- Alex Albon – Williams
- Fernando Alonso – Aston Martin
- George Russell – Mercedes
- Oliver Bearman – Haas
- Carlos Sainz – Williams
- Esteban Ocon – Haas
- Charles Leclerc – Ferrari
- Yuki Tsunoda – Red Bull
DNF
16. Kimi Antonelli – Mercedes
17. Isack Hadjar – Racing Bulls
18. Gabriel Bortoleto – Sauber
19. Liam Lawson – Racing Bulls
20. Franco Colapinto – Alpine
More F1 news: How Lewis Hamilton Made the F1 Movie Production More Expensive
For more F1 news, head on over to Newsweek Sports.
The post Fernando Alonso Left Steaming After Aston Martin Strategy Blunder at British GP appeared first on Newsweek.
