Why Alonso and Aston made the call that guaranteed Verstappen's Monaco victory
At what was considered to be the biggest test to Red Bull’s 2023 Formula 1 domination, Max Verstappen stood firm against a prowling Fernando Alonso and the roulette wheel that is a dry-to-wet Monaco Grand Prix. While the Dutchman’s driving deserves the biggest credit as his ace card, key strategy calls by his rivals dealt him an even stronger hand
“For me it was very clear that the track, on that lap we stopped, was completely dry, apart from Turn 7 and 8,” Fernando Alonso reflected, discussing his call to pit for medium tyres at the end of lap 54 of an unusual Monaco Grand Prix.
Having discussed the weather forecast with his Aston Martin engineers, they concluded that incoming rainfall would amount to nothing more than “a small shower”. Expecting it to pass, the team stuck to its guns with its hard-medium tyre strategy, and Alonso was expecting a few laps of clinging on at the Fairmont Hairpin and Portier before the rain subsided.
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