Fernando Alonso has revealed that he tried to protect team-mate Esteban Ocon by speeding up towards the end of the Monaco Grand Prix, but it was not enough to mitigate the Frenchman’s penalty.
After Mick Schumacher’s crash had caused a red flag, the drivers needed to go to the end of the race on the tyres they switched onto in the pit lane.
This arrived after the race had been delayed due to torrential rain, and Alonso had managed to keep the seventh position he had started in ahead of Sir Lewis Hamilton after the transition to Slicks had played out.
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The Spaniard bolted on a set of Mediums to go to the end of what became a time limited race because of the rain delay and Schumacher’s crash, and he was forced to run at a slower pace to look after the rubber.
The result was a massive train from seventh-placed Alonso all the way back to 14th-placed Lance Stroll.
“I think we didn’t have the tyres or the tyre life to finish the race when it was 33 laps,” explained Alonso after the race.
“It’s a sprint race, we had two choices: refit the hard tyres from the beginning of the race, or put the medium tyre. We put the medium tyre, but our life estimation was shorter than 33.”
Hamilton was held up for a long period of time behind Alonso, and he finished behind team-mate George Russell for the sixth consecutive race as he struggled to find a way through in the tight corners synonymous with Monaco.
The seven-time champion had already been involved in an incident with Esteban Ocon at Sainte-Devote, earning the other Alpine driver a penalty, which eventually saw him finish the race 12th, promoting Sebastian Vettel to the points.
When Alonso learned of this, he sped up and even had the fastest lap at some stage.
“So we didn’t know if we could finish the race, so I managed a lot the tyres for 15 laps, and then I pushed for the remaining 15 when they told me that Esteban [Ocon] had the penalty,” he added.
As for Hamilton being caught behind the Spaniard, he said it was “not my problem.”
The 37-year-old insists that he was not overly frustrated at being stuck behind the double world champion, affirming that it is simply the nature of the Monaco Grand Prix.
“Who knows [what might have been possible],” he told Sky Sports.
“I might have been able to have jumped… I don’t know, I haven’t seen what was possible but it definitely didn’t help being stuck behind him though.
“Honestly I didn’t find it frustrating, it’s what you expect here in Monaco.
“I knew that I… once I had qualified behind one of them, it was going to be something like that and I was hoping the rain would open up some opportunities but it didn’t work this weekend.
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“You live and you learn, and move on.”
Alonso’s six points in the Principality move him up to 13th in the Drivers’ Standings, just one point behind both Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda.