Fernando Alonso finished seventh at Suzuka last Sunday after a lackluster performance by the Spaniard. The two-time world champion failed to gain any positions, finishing in the same position he started out at.
Alpine’s sporting director, Alan Permane, believes the Spaniard could have overtaken Sebastian Vettel had the team pitted for a set of new intermediates earlier in the race. Speaking to Motorsport Total, he said:
“So I think if the race had gone as far as we thought, he would have overtaken Sebastian. But probably we should have done [the tyre change] a bit earlier, although it’s not so easy to say because his tires degraded in that stint as well.”
Sebastian Vettel, who had started ninth, pitted to change tires right after the race restarted post the red flag and gained a significant advantage over the other drivers to enter the top six. Alonso pitted much later, just six laps from the end, and instantly felt the change in speed.
Alpine was one of the fastest cars in the final few laps but due to time constraints could only manage to finish seventh. Alonso closed in on the four-time world champion very quickly but was unable to catch him. The gap between the two drivers as they crossed the finish line was just 0.011s. Had the Spaniard pitted earlier, he could have easily passed Vettel’s Aston Martin.
Alan Permane also explained why the team decided to pit later. He said the team did not realize the change in pace which came from a new set of tires. They realized the fact after Zhou Guanyu pitted and gained five seconds on the next lap. The director said:
“But we didn’t realize at the time how easy it would be to overtake people. We were worried because if we had pitted sooner he would have had to overtake five cars and we thought that wouldn’t be good. And then we saw Zhou pit and go five seconds a lap faster and we said, ‘OK, yeah, let’s do that.’ We’ll have to look at that.”
Fernando Alonso should have had another lap according to Alan Permane
Alpine sporting director Alan Permane believes Fernando Alonso should have had another lap of racing. He believes the race ended early and if there was another lap, the Spaniard would have overtaken Sebastian Vettel. Permane said:
“I think we need to look at it again, I think the race was stopped a lap early and the checkered flag was waved a lap earlier than it should have been. But if the race had gone one more lap, which I think it should have, he would have been ahead of Sebastian.”
Fernando Alonso was visibly frustrated at his team’s mistake for not pitting him earlier. The Spaniard blamed a bad year on the team and their strategic mistakes. Fernando Alonso was heard over the radio after crossing the checkered flag, saying:
“What a mistake, eh? I mean strategically, what are you doing this year to me?”
What’s your favorite race of the 2022 season so far? Tell us in the comments below..
quick links
More from Sportskeeda
