Sebastian Vettel crashing in Australia ruined Alpine’s race strategy and Otmar Szafnauer jokingly suggests that it was an act of revenge.
Szafnauer was team principal for the Silverstone based team for 12 years. Throughout his tenure, the team underwent several name changes, before in 2021 it brought the iconic name of Aston Martin back to F1.
2021 was also the first year for Sebastian Vettel in the team. It was a struggle throughout, with them finishing seventh in the standings. After disagreements with the management, Szafnauer decided to leave them and jump ship to Alpine.
The French outfit have had a strong start to the 2022 season. Both Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon look well settled in the team, and they are one of the top midfield teams in the grid so far.
At last weekend’s Australian GP, Alonso looked set to getting a decent amount of points for Alpine. However, Vettel’s crash changed the course of his strategy.
The Spaniard started the race on hard tyres, but after Vettel’s crash on lap 23 brought the safety car out, all the drivers who started on mediums pitted. This neutralized any advantage Alonso might have gained towards the end of the race.
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Fernando Alonso’s weekend got ruined even before Sebastian Vettel crash
Alonso himself suffered a big crash during Q3 last Saturday. The 40-year old was on course to completing a stellar lap that would have seen him start a lot higher than P10.
Szafnauer feels that if Alonso started higher up, his weekend could have been a lot more different.
“If we had qualified where we could have qualified, it would have been a completely different race for Fernando,” he said.
“He would then have started on mediums like everyone else around him and would not have been caught flat-footed by the Safety Car.”
“If we hadn’t had that pace, the Virtual Safety Car wouldn’t have come. And if we had done the same as Albon, we would have finished 10th. We would have been ahead of them. But when you’re in front, you make different decisions.”
