Alonso: "McLaren is The Car to Beat for The Past Few Races"
Spanish driver Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), two-time Formula 1 world champion, stated that McLaren is "the car to beat for the past few races" and expressed his pleasure at Australian Oscar Piastri's (McLaren) victory. However, he regretted that by lap eight he knew he wouldn’t finish in the points due to an early pit stop.
"I think we were in the fight. On lap seven we pitted, and by lap eight I already knew we wouldn't score. Completing 63 laps with a set of medium and one of hard tires is an impossible task for us. We all know that, and I don’t know why we pitted, but now it’s too late, so we’ll try to learn from this," Alonso commented to DAZN.
The double world champion from Asturias explained that the Aston Martin is "quite aggressive on tires," which have "high wear," and therefore he knew that "the stints needed to be quite similar in terms of laps, otherwise there would be a high cost in the pit stop."
"On lap five I said the tires felt better than expected, and on the following lap or two I was told to pit. It was a surprise, but when it’s over, it’s easy to comment. The team thought it would be the best move, and it turned out poorly. We’ll need to analyze and improve," Alonso emphasized.
He insisted that, currently, the top eight positions are "locked" for McLaren, Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes drivers, and they are not "close" to those spots, despite the point earned by his teammate, Canadian Lance Stroll.
