What Alonso said in his censored criticism of race control during the Mexican GP

Fernando Alonso’s strenuous criticism of race control after several drivers cut across the run-off area at the start was not broadcast during the Mexican Grand Prix.

The Aston Martin driver said those running the race “don’t understand anything about racing” as he complained about losing positions to those who left the track at the start.

“Hopefully they broadcast this and they see the turn one, two,” Alonso added. However his messages were not played on his onboard channel at the time.

Alonso’s onboard channel was silent throughout almost all of the Mexican Grand Prix. Most of his messages over the first four laps were broadcast, though some of his discussions with race engineer Andrew Vizard on lap three were heavily censored.

FOM also has the facility to censor any radio messages on the onboard feed. Unlike on the world feed, these are not ‘beeped’, but simply silenced, making it impossible to tell if all or part of a message has been removed. FOM tends to use this only for brief periods when a driver has had a crash or has become particularly agitated and may be likely to swear.

Alonso’s complaint to Vizard on lap three was extensively censored. The missing portions – labelled “not broadcast live” below – were revealed in a video published by F1 after the race:

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Drivers have previously been penalised for criticising the stewards on their radios. In 2023 Sergio Perez was given a formal warning for saying “the stewards are a joke” after he was penalised during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

FOM’s decision to censor Alonso’s comments may therefore have spared him a stewards’ investigation for breaching the FIA’s rules on “misconduct”.

Vizard’s reply to Alonso on lap four was the last communication heard from either of them in the onboard footage from Alonso’s car during the race. However their conversations continued, and further excerpts from them have now been published.

While running 14th behind Gabriel Bortoleto and Carlos Sainz Jnr, Alonso asked Vizard: “Maybe a question for the race direction, can I cut turn two and three to pass like they do or I stay on track better?”

On lap 19 Alonso contradicted Vizard’s recommendation they stick with strategy plan A. “Plan B, I’m slower than Lance [Stroll], I have no tyres, so I don’t want to lose another five seconds now, so Plan B.”

“Copy that Fernando, so we’ll move to plan B,” Vizard replied as Stroll overtook him.

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Alonso suffered a further frustration when he pitted on lap 20. This was a very early first stop, indicating he was two-stopping, but he lost almost five seconds due to a slow front-left tyre change. He gave a thumbs-up gesture to the pit crew as he pulled away to rejoin the race in last place.

He moved up to 15th as other drivers pitted ahead of him but as lap 34 began his team mate Lance Stroll was closing in. Alonso, seemingly under instruction to let his team mate through, slowed down on the approach to turn four to let him by.

Alonso then cruised into the pits and retired. “Brake, brake issue,” he said, “box this lap.”

Immediately after the race Aston Martin’s chief trackside officer Mike Krack described his retirement as a “precaution” due to a “possible brake issue.”

Did Alonso park a healthy car? If so, it probably isn’t the first time he’s done so. His official explanation for last weekend’s retirement was that: “about halfway through the race we had to retire the car as a precaution.”

There is an irony to Alonso declaring he hopes one of his radio messages were broadcast, as he has repeatedly said they should not be public. He repeated this view earlier this month, claiming their radio discussions are “misunderstood 99.9% of the time because they are private conversations with your engineer.”

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Penalty box

Should the stewards have penalised any driver for cutting turn two at the start? Cast your vote below and have your say in the comments.

Should any drivers have been penalised for cutting turn two at the start?

• No driver should have been penalised (7%)
• Lawson should have been penalised (11%)
• Sainz should have been penalised (12%)
• Antonelli should have been penalised (13%)
• Verstappen should have been penalised (29%)
• Leclerc should have been penalised (27%)

Total Voters: 96

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