Alpine justifies team order between Alonso and Ocon in Canada

Fernando Alonso amazed the F1 world on Saturday in Canada, when he put the Alpine in second position on the grid with a masterclass in wet qualifying.

The Spaniard was unable to keep Carlos Sainz behind as soon as the option to use DRS was opened, and his podium chances (which were real) vanished due to a mix of an inopportune Virtual Safety Car and a problem with his car’s engine .

That virtual safety car period ended just before he could make his first stop, and by having to pitstop later in green-flag conditions, he lost time to his rivals.

Then an ERS problem (which the team suspects was due to an air leak) slowed him down, and after the final Safety Car (after Yuki Tsunoda retired), Alonso found himself behind team-mate Esteban Ocon.

There, from the French team they asked their drivers not to fight each other, pointing out the speed problem in the straight line that Alonso suffered (and that he calculated that he took between eight tenths and one second per lap). At that moment, the two-time champion replied annoyed: “Even with that problem I have been 100 times faster all weekend.”

Specifically, Alonso led Ocon by 9 tenths in FP1, 6 tenths in FP2, 0.167s in FP3, which he led, and no less than one and a half seconds in Q3 qualifying .

Fernando Alonso’s response quickly spread like wildfire on social networks, and many fans began to attack the team, suspecting that they favored the French driver. When team boss Otmar Szafnauer was asked about it, he calmly commented that it had been an easy decision.

He explained, “I mean, we were fifth and sixth, right? So what do you want to do, do you let them run or change their positions so they’re still fifth and sixth?”

“I’m in favor of allowing them to run, but you have to remember that Fernando [Alonso] had a problem in the drivetrain, he had a leak that meant he had no speed on the straight,” he excused.

Esteban Ocon, Alpine A522, Fernando Alonso

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Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-22, Mick Schumacher, Haas VF-22, at the beginning

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Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75

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Photo by: Zak Mauger/Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo C42

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Photo de: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-22, the rest at the start

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-22, the rest at the start

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

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Photo by: Andrew Ferraro/Motorsport Images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13

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Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images

Fans of Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team

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Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 team

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Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 team

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Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

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Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

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Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

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Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

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Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75

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Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, the rest at the start

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Photo by: Andrew Ferraro/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, the rest at the start

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Photo by: Andrew Ferraro/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, the rest at the start

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Photo by: Andrew Ferraro/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-22, the rest at the start

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Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari F1-75, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-22, Mick Schumacher, Haas VF-22, the rest at the start

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Photo by: Andrew Ferraro/Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 team

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Photo by: Patrick Vinet / Sutton images

Fernando Alonso, of the Alpine F1 team, in the drivers’ parade

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Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team, on the grid after qualifying

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Photo by: Patrick Vinet/Sutton images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

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Photo by: Patrick Vinet / Sutton images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

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Photo by: Francois Tremblay

Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team, on the grid after qualifying

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Photo by: Patrick Vinet/Sutton images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team, on the grid after qualifying

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Photo by: Patrick Vinet/Sutton images

Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team, talk after qualifying

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

Top three finishers Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, pole man Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team

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Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

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Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

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Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

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Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL36

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Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, on the grid after qualifying

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, of the Alpine F1 team, on the starting grid after qualifying

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, of the Alpine F1 team, on the starting grid after qualifying

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Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team, at the post-qualifying press conference

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Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team, at the post-qualifying press conference

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Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team, pole man Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, at the post-qualifying press conference

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Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team, pole man Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, at the post-qualifying press conference

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Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team, at the post-qualifying press conference

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Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

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Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

The Spanish drivers Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, after qualifying

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

The Spanish drivers Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, after qualifying

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

Top three finishers: Third place Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, pole man Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Second place Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

Top three finishers: Third place Carlos Sainz, Ferrari, pole man Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, Second place Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

Second place Fernando Alonso, of the Alpine F1 team, greets the fans after qualifying in the front row

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Photo By: Andy Hone/Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

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Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Both were riding behind a Valtteri Bottas who was putting a lot of pressure on them, and Ocon agreed to give Alonso DRS so that he could defend himself against the Alfa Romeo. “Esteban [Ocon] kindly waited for him so we could have DRS, which was the right thing to do,” praised Szafnauer.

In the team’s statement, the team principal lamented Alonso’s bad luck, and again had good words for Ocon: “Esteban benefited from a brilliant start and executed his plan well to move up to sixth place at the end, with intelligent driving and team mentality to allow Fernando to use DRS in the closing laps, which was key to consolidating our final positions.”

Furthermore, after Alonso suggested to the media that Alpine’s problems always occurred in his car, Szafnauer said that what the driver thought was one thing and what actually happened was another.

“I’m not sure it always happens to him,” he said. “I’m sure he feels that way, but I’m not sure he does.”

In the nine races that we have run, Ocon has been able to score points in seven and has suffered a penalty in the other two, where he was nevertheless able to see the finish line without abandoning. For his part, and beyond slow pitstops, failed strategies and an absurd penalty in Miami, Alonso has suffered two retirements due to reliability and had to complete this Canadian GP with another problem.