02/06/2023
NEWS STORY
Fernando Alonso has hit out at so-called 'sofa experts' following criticism of his team's strategy in Monaco, which some claim cost him a potential victory.
Other than (deep, deep groan) the ongoing Phillip Schofield saga, the other big talking point this week has been Aston Martin's strategy during the Monaco Grand Prix.
The Silverstone-based outfit pitted Alonso just as rain began to fall - and after a number of drivers had already fitted Inters - switching the Spaniard - who had started on hards unlike his main rivals - to mediums only to have to pit him again a lap later.
The team has strongly defended its decision claiming that at the time the Spaniard stopped the rain was not intense enough to warrant a switch from slicks, and other than the fact that only a certain part of the track was affected, it was not anticipated that the rain would last that long.
"I think it was the right decision," insisted Alonso, speaking to reporters in Barcelona. "Maybe if you have the crystal ball and you know the conditions, you know who stops and who doesn't stop, and then finally it rains and you need the inters, then 100% you stop for inters.
"What I don't like in Formula One is that we always see the negatives and we always see everything very easy from the sofa," he added. "I tell you an example: if we stopped for inters, this week we would only talk about the wrong decision of Red Bull stopping one lap too late. We would never have thought that Aston Martin was very brave and chose the right tyre, we would only talk that Red Bull chose the wrong tyre and stopped Max one lap too late.
"This is just the mentality of the unlimited search for perfection, which is not possible to reach sometimes.
"If we took the wrong decision and still finished P2 in Monaco, we will take that. Now if we look at the race on TV again, we will stop for inters 100% yes, that was better. But in that moment, why Max didn't stop for inters as well? He stayed out one lap longer than me but with a different tyre.
"It's difficult to know, but as I said, the biggest thing is that at every race we never put enough prize to the right things that the teams, in very stressful moments, do. We always spot the one thing that they do wrong and then we go hard on them."