The Aston Martin driver started the Chinese GP with a single set of new hards and two sets of new mediums. So when he started the race on mediums and switched to his only hards after 11 laps, he found himself without the strategic flexibility of his rivals. when the first safety car period was called to recover the broken down Sauber of Valtteri Bottas.
As Alonso no longer had hard tires to carry him to the finish – like the six drivers who preceded him – Aston Martin replaced him with soft tires for the restart.
But, with more than half the race remaining, that forced Alonso into three stops and he made a late pit stop for his second set of mediums. The stop took him from fifth to 12th, but the Spaniard moved up to seventh and won the bonus point for fastest lap.
“We didn’t have any hard tires left – we had a soft and a medium and 35 laps ahead of us and, according to our calculations, it was not possible to go to the end,” Alonso said.
“There were a lot of safety car laps to take the Sauber out and, once the safety car came, even more safety car laps because they crashed.”
He added: “I felt fast but the positions were not good when I was 10th. It was difficult and it was our only strategy to implement.
“But it was good to set the fastest lap, it was good to feel the car fast. We have a good DRS this year so it was very easy to overtake. I almost fell in the last corner, I was pushing as hard as I could.
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack added that due to heavy tire degradation during the sprint race, the team was concerned about running a two-stop strategy with one hard and two mediums, and therefore took the “risk” of the three stops.
“We thought it was probably best to use it – because we had a new software left – to use that one,” Krack said.
“It was a small risk. Then when the safety car came, or so to speak, this extended safety period, you couldn’t use the software during that time.
“So it was [about] limit the damage. Overall, considering the pace of the car, which was not good enough in the race, the optimal result without the safety car might have been sixth. We now finish seventh with the fastest lap. Damage limitation.
Initially, Alonso overtook Sergio Perez to take second place behind Max Verstappen, but knew he was unlikely to retain that position as Aston Martin was “the fifth fastest team” in China.
“Yesterday, same with Lewis [Hamilton], I was P2 when Lando came out and I said ‘OK, I can try to lead the race for at least one lap’. Today I passed Checo and I thought, ‘OK, I’ll do it again,’ but I had no choice or opportunity,” Alonso explained. “I hope one day soon .
“The wind direction changed this morning, so in turns 1 and 2 it was a headwind. So I knew that if I was parallel to someone in turns 1 and 2, I had the opportunity to attack. I was very aggressive.
“Then, finally, you go back to your natural position, which is ninth and tenth. We always repeat the same things but we see every Sunday that we are the fifth fastest team.
“But, for some reason, they [Aston’s rivals] we don’t do the laps on a Saturday, we qualify in front of them and then there’s this fight every Sunday. Let’s see if we can improve the car.
The Aston Martin driver started the Chinese GP with a single set of new hards and two sets of new mediums. So when he started the race on mediums and switched to his only hards after 11 laps, he found himself without the strategic flexibility of his rivals. when the first safety car period was called to recover the broken down Sauber of Valtteri Bottas.
As Alonso no longer had hard tires to carry him to the finish – like the six drivers who preceded him – Aston Martin replaced him with soft tires for the restart.
But, with more than half the race remaining, that forced Alonso into three stops and he made a late pit stop for his second set of mediums. The stop took him from fifth to 12th, but the Spaniard moved up to seventh and won the bonus point for fastest lap.
“We didn’t have any hard tires left – we had a soft and a medium and 35 laps ahead of us and, according to our calculations, it was not possible to go to the end,” Alonso said.
“There were a lot of safety car laps to take the Sauber out and, once the safety car came, even more safety car laps because they crashed.”
He added: “I felt fast but the positions were not good when I was 10th. It was difficult and it was our only strategy to implement.
“But it was good to set the fastest lap, it was good to feel the car fast. We have a good DRS this year so it was very easy to overtake. I almost fell in the last corner, I was pushing as hard as I could.
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack added that due to heavy tire degradation during the sprint race, the team was concerned about running a two-stop strategy with one hard and two mediums, and therefore took the “risk” of the three stops.
“We thought it was probably best to use it – because we had a new software left – to use that one,” Krack said.
“It was a small risk. Then when the safety car came, or so to speak, this extended safety period, you couldn’t use the software during that time.
“So it was [about] limit the damage. Overall, considering the pace of the car, which was not good enough in the race, the optimal result without the safety car might have been sixth. We now finish seventh with the fastest lap. Damage limitation.
Initially, Alonso overtook Sergio Perez to take second place behind Max Verstappen, but knew he was unlikely to retain that position as Aston Martin was “the fifth fastest team” in China.
“Yesterday, same with Lewis [Hamilton], I was P2 when Lando came out and I said ‘OK, I can try to lead the race for at least one lap’. Today I passed Checo and I thought, ‘OK, I’ll do it again,’ but I had no choice or opportunity,” Alonso explained. “I hope one day soon .
“The wind direction changed this morning, so in turns 1 and 2 it was a headwind. So I knew that if I was parallel to someone in turns 1 and 2, I had the opportunity to attack. I was very aggressive.
“Then, finally, you go back to your natural position, which is ninth and tenth. We always repeat the same things but we see every Sunday that we are the fifth fastest team.
“But, for some reason, they [Aston’s rivals] we don’t do the laps on a Saturday, we qualify in front of them and then there’s this fight every Sunday. Let’s see if we can improve the car.