Alonso's mistake with the rain tires in Monaco: "You can see another race from television"
“You’ve asked me several times and I’m surprised that you do. I guess from the TV you see a different race than from inside the car. The track was dry, or almost dry, at 90%. There was only water in a couple of corners. I had to pit, I asked the team about the weather, they told me it wasn’t going to rain much and I decided to put on dry tires. How could I ask for intermediate tires if the track was barely wet? At that moment I thought it was the right thing to do. Then everything changed in a minute, the rain intensified, but at that moment it was the right thing to do. I still had room to make a second stop. Max [Verstappen] would have won anyway because he was faster. I couldn’t really overtake him. The important thing is that I finished second in Monaco, that I got another podium.. Now we have to celebrate instead of thinking about what would have happened if everything had been different.”.
What was Fernando Alonso talking about? About the opportunity he had this Sunday to overtake Max Verstappen and celebrate the 33rd victory of his career in Formula 1 on the streets of Monaco. It was an unrealistic option, just a guess, but it existed. “When it rains, all decisions are complicated,” argued the leader of Aston Martin and he was right. That does not mean that he had a remote chance of returning to the top of the podium 10 years later.
It happened after the hour of the race, when all the single-seaters had already passed 50 laps through the famous Monte Carlo pool and faced the last section of the test. Until that moment there was no newsworthy movement. From pole position, Max Verstappen had gained a certain advantage, Fernando Alonso bothered him about 10 seconds behind and, behind them both, Esteban Ocon had created a slow, very slow peloton. then it started to rain. Or at least to fall a few drops. In the easternmost part of the track, i.e. on the Italian side, in the corners between the Casino and the tunnel, the water soaked the asphalt and almost all the drivers ran to the garage to put on intermediate tires. There was no downpour, nobody took out their water tires, but it was already impossible to drive on slicks. Only one driver took the risk: Alonso. And the decision was not the right one.
In an instant the drizzle became a downpour, some puddles were created, and the Aston Martin leader had to return immediately to his garage to reverse his gamble. Victory, with so much time lost, was impossible. Thanks to Ocon’s stopper, his second place was not in danger, but Verstappen was already unreachable. If in his first stop Alonso had mounted rain tires maybe he would have appeared ahead of the Dutchman and would have won the race. Or maybe not. It was an unrealistic option, just a guess, but it existed..
The support of your team
“Maybe I've been too conservative, I don't know,” Alonso defended himself at a press conference, somewhat annoyed with the matter. In fact, after the second question about his decision with the tires, he spoke with Verstappen and between them, with the start of the Indianapolis 500 as an excuse, they ended the interaction with the journalists..
AFP
Actually, Alonso had a compelling argument: “The important thing is that I finished second in Monaco, that I got another podium”. Beyond the hypothesis that would have led him to victory, the Spaniard was satisfied with his fifth podium in six races, although a party did not break out in his garage either. At the end of the test, the Aston Martin mechanics applauded and hugged, but there was more comfort than enthusiasm. That mistake weighed. In fact, the team manager at Aston Martin, Mike Krack, regretted it and wanted to wrap Alonso up by sharing responsibilities: “When Fernando entered the pits, some rain had fallen, but not enough, in our opinion. There was water in a part of the circuit, but it had not reached us. That's why we made that decision together.. We thought the circuit would dry out fast. Still, nothing would have changed.”. “In Barcelona it will be difficult to opt for victory, but there will be more opportunities,” said the director with the certainty that this Sunday they lost one of them.
One foot in the first drawer
Due to the characteristics of the track, due to Checo Pérez's failure in qualifying and even due to the rain, it was a good moment to break the iron dominance of Red Bull. possibly the best. “I don't want to put pressure on myself or the team with a win.. We have to keep our feet on the ground. Here we have seen that the Red Bull dominates in any circumstance. Next week, in Barcelona, I will fight again with the Ferrari and the Mercedes and maybe I will finish seventh or eighth. I'm not obsessed with victory”, commented Alonso, who, despite some tension, joked with his photo on the podium.
Tradition says that, at the end of the ceremony, the three protagonists get on the first drawer and take a photo together, but due to the tightness of Monaco they could not do it.. Alonso ended up with one foot on number 2 and the other foot on number 1, which is rare. “I had already stepped on the first drawer more times, don't believe it,” he said.
pachoud
With his second place and the disaster of Pérez, who had no option to come back and finished sixteenth, Alonso confirmed himself as a candidate, at least, for the World Cup runner-up. With six races disputed and 16 tests still to go, an outrage, he is third, only 12 points behind the Mexican, although he is already 51 points behind Verstappen. “With the points that I have this year, I would be leading other seasons, even seasons in which I ended up fighting for the title. In fact, there were years when I didn't have the fastest car and I still had a chance to be champion, like in 2010 or 2012.. The championship is very long and I can even get close to Max if he has problems. This is sport, anything can happen”, the Spaniard predicted before leaving to see the misfortune of Alex Palou in the Indianapolis 500 and forgetting about the hypothesis. The option of his victory in Monaco was unreal, just a conjecture, but it existed.