Alonso’s deliberately slow pace was a godsend for McLaren after strategy error

McLaren’s strategy error in the Qatar Grand Prix could have proved much more costly if Aston Martin hadn’t been struggling with tyre degradation.

The team’s problem became apparent in Saturday’s sprint race. The only true position change among the top 16 cars came when Andrea Kimi Antonelli passed the struggling Fernando Alonso.

Aston Martin were clearly anxious to avoid a repeat of the same in the grand prix. Alonso’s radio messages from Sunday’s race showed he took it upon himself to reduce his car’s pace early on, following pre-race discussions with his race engineer Ander Vizard.

The AMR25’s deliberately pedestrian pace threw McLaren a lifeline after they slipped up by failing to bring race leader Oscar Piastri and third-placed Lando Norris into the pits when the Safety Car was deployed on lap seven. After the restart they were separated from Alonso by Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz Jnr and Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Once the McLaren drivers made their pit stops they emerged behind all three. But they would have had even more cars to pass had Alonso not allowed a gap of almost eight seconds to develop between him and Antonelli.

Vizard gave Alonso his first reminder to reduce his pace on lap six, shortly before the Safety Car appeared. While the field was neutralised Vizard reminded him he would have to reduce his pace again soon after the restart:

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After the restart Vizard told Alonso he could see where the driver was purposefully reducing his pace and tried to avoid nagging him with constant reminders not to go flat-out. Alonso was content to manage his pace, however, so much so that he initially resisted Vizard’s suggestion he increased his pace. Meanwhile he continued to hold up a train comprising Isack Hadjar, George Russell, Charles Leclerc and others.

That helped both McLaren drivers, but especially Norris. Piastri came out comfortably ahead of Alonso when he pitted, but Aston Martin expected Norris to rejoin behind their car. He didn’t, however, as Alonso continued to protect his tyres.

Norris went on to salvage fourth having run third, while former leader Piastri finished second. McLaren’s evening turned out badly, but had it not been for Aston Martin’s problems, it could have been even worse.

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