Fernando Alonso will leave Alpine F1 after the end of the season and move to Aston Martin next year, but for now his disagreements with the works team of French concern Renault continue. During the Japanese Grand Prix, this was reflected in some of his radio comments and comments he made after the race in a conversation with the Spanish press.
He especially disliked the fact that Esteban Ocon, his partner, switched to intermediate tires a lap earlier, while Alonso was not invited to the pits until lap 8, although many teams made double pit stops.
He made no secret of his irritation as he spoke on the radio with Karel Loos, his race engineer: “It was a big mistake! I mean the choice of tactics. What are you doing to me this year?”
The newspaper Marca also quotes his words, saying after the finish: “I asked the team for a pit stop twice beforehand, but maybe my microphone didn’t work. As a result, we ended up in the same position as where we started.
We always make pitstop decisions later than others. I was one of the last to ride on heavy rain tires and we lost a few spots because of that. Then we had to make an extra pit stop, but only six laps from the finish, when it was too late to earn back.
Alonso’s comments about DAZN were a little less angry: “In the beginning we got into the pits too late to switch to intermediate tires and I lost some ground. And at the end of the race we didn’t know if it was the last lap or not, and the team didn’t warn me until the last corner. I think everyone was in the same conditions, but when I was driving a car on the track, I felt there was some chaos in the team.
Alonso didn’t inadvertently mention the final corner of the final lap of the shortened Grand Prix distance: he battled Sebastian Vettel to the very end and the Aston Martin driver crossed the finish line just 0.011 seconds early. Unfortunately, this duel of theirs was not on the broadcast of the race, but the audience in the grandstands of the circuit in Suzuka certainly enjoyed it.
The Madrid newspaper also recalled that the disagreements between Alonso and the Alpine F1 strategists occurred as early as the April stage of the season in Melbourne, then Spa and Monza. Four stages before the end of the championship, Fernando takes the 9th line of the personal standings, behind his partner, Esteban Okon, 13 points.
Source: F1 News
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