After missing out on Q3, Fernando Alonso started from 11th on the grid at the Miami GP, but was confident of Alpine’s pace to score points for the first time since the inaugural Bahrain GP.
Alonso gained a place before the race started due to a fuel-related problem in the cars of Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel, forcing them to start from pit lane . But that didn’t stop the two-time world champion from climbing even higher, beating Yuki Tsunoda, Lando Norris and, after a touch, also Lewis Hamilton, to move up to seventh after the first lap.
The Asturian decided that taking the outside line at turn 1 was the best option and thanks to that he was able to take advantage of the single-seaters that were trapped inside; Hamilton was one of the drivers who suffered the most in that area of the track.
After the race, Alonso revealed that the decision to go over the outer lane had been made long before the lights went out at the Miami International Speedway.
The #14 explained that it was during the drivers’ parade before the race that he realized how clean the outside line looked at turn 1, which led him to bet everything on that card, trusting that the asphalt had enough grip for the first few meters.
“I had a good start but then I went wide at Turn 1,” said Alonso.
“I saw it at the drivers’ parade. It was the slowest parade ever.”
“We stopped on the outside of Turn 1, so I was looking at the conditions in that area for about 20 seconds and I saw that it had a lot of grip, there were no stones or anything like that, it was really very clean.
“At that point I decided I would go on the outside at Turn 1. Everyone was braking very carefully on the inside and I gained a couple of places there.
Alonso was ultimately unable to keep Hamilton behind him and a slow pit stop saw him get stuck behind Pierre Gasly as well. An optimistic move into Turn 1 midway through the race led to a touch between them and the Alpine driver was handed a first five-second penalty, before a second penalty of a further five seconds for going off track and gaining a lead eventually saw him out. of the points, in 11th place, 0.102s from 10th.
The Spanish driver was not the only one to find more grip on the outside at Turn 1, as Max Verstappen made a similar move to overtake Carlos Sainz and move into second.
“I didn’t know what to expect in the first meters but we got off to a good start,” said Verstappen .
“I saw an opportunity to go around the outside at Turn 1, so I tried it. And luckily it worked.”
The vast majority of drivers struggled with going off the usual racing line throughout the weekend, and although the Dutchman said he was “surprised” by the grip he found at the start, Turn 1 became “worse and worse” as the laps progressed.
