Fernando Alonso once again showcased his wily old racecraft in the dying embers of the Japanese GP, against Oscar Piastri and George Russell. Alonso deliberately gave Piastri the DRS advantage when the latter was behind him and had George Russell charging behind him on fresher tires. Unlike Russell, whom the Aston Martin driver caught out with his sudden slowing down maneuver in Australia, Piastri knew what the Spaniard was up to in Suzuka.
Speaking after the race as seen in a Twitter (now X) video, the McLaren driver said, “Yea, I mean I could tell. By the way, he was using the energy I could tell he was trying to keep me in his DRS so George didn’t pass me and attack him. I knew exactly what he [Alonso] was doing“.
Eventually, the maneuver did not work in Piastri‘s favor. The Australian driver “locked up” in the final chicane section and that gave the impetus to Russell to overtake him comfortably.
Because the Mercedes driver was on a fresher set of tires, Alonso knew he could easily pass Piastri and then attack him for the P6 spot. So, it was quite clever from the two-time champion to use his defensive skills and maintain the status quo in terms of his position.
Thankfully for him, it worked out perfectly, as Russell made the pass on Piastri on the final lap of the Grand Prix. So, the British driver did not have enough time to catch up with his AMR24, and Alonso finished in P6 at the chequered flag.
How Fernando Alonso emulated Carlos Sainz’s Singapore GP masterclass?
One can say that Fernando Alonso emulated his fellow Spaniard, Carlos Sainz, who pulled off a similar move in Singapore last year. It is a tactic that has become quite popular amongst F1 drivers and Sainz was perfect with it in Singapore.
As Carlos Sainz was leading the 2023 Singapore GP, behind him were the two charging Mercedes cars, led by George Russell. This is where the #55 driver pulled off the big brain move of slowing down a bit and bringing Lando Norris, who was in P2, within the DRS range.
Despite his race engineer asking him to pick up the pace, Sainz reasoned that he was slowing down on purpose to keep Norris within a second’s range. As the Mercedes duo came closer in the final laps of the race, Sainz indirectly double-teamed with his former McLaren teammate and did not allow Russell to overtake both of them.
It was a strategic masterclass and clever thinking from the Ferrari driver as he went on to win his second Grand Prix. His move also helped Norris claim P2.
Meanwhile, Russell, unfortunately, crashed out of the race on the last lap. Sainz knew that there was no point in going faster as being defensive on a track that is difficult to overtake made sense to keep aggressive cars behind.
This is where drivers like Alonso and Sainz thrive much better as they understand the broader context of the race. Just driving quickly into the distance [just because one can] may not always win the battle in a Grand Prix, and Alonso proved it again with his Sainz-like maneuver in Japan.
