Nightmare Sunday for Fernando Alonso
There really doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel for Fernando Alonso in this early part of 2025. Even in Monaco, the Spaniard from Aston Martin — still stuck on zero points in the standings — was forced to give up a top-10 finish he had fully earned on Saturday, this time due to a power unit issue that forced him to retire early. But even before the retirement, the race of the two-time world champion from Asturias had been anything but smooth, due to some tension with the pit wall regarding the handling of the strategy.
Starting from sixth on the grid, Fernando Alonso had already lost two positions in the pit stops to the benefit of Lewis Hamilton and Isack Hadjar. In his team radio messages with race engineer Andrew Vizard, the Oviedo veteran’s growing frustration over a race plan he found ineffective became more and more evident with each passing lap. Below are some of the most relevant exchanges between car #14 and the Aston Martin pit wall before the forced retirement, featuring the sharp sarcasm — not unusual from Alonso — directed at the team.
Radio frustration over strategy
Lap 14/15
Vizard: “Hadjar has pitted. Make sure to use all the pace you have. Let me know about the flap.”
Alonso: “The flap is fine, but what’s the plan? What’s the target lap? The tyres are fine.”
Lap 17
Vizard: “You might see Hadjar coming out of the pits. He should be just ahead of you.”
Alonso: “Yes, you need to explain to me what you’re doing with the strategy. You need to explain it to me.”
Lap 18
Vizard: “We need to push now, Fernando. I know I haven’t given you much info, but keep pushing now. We need to cover Hamilton.”
Alonso: “I can’t push now!! If we create graining on the tyres now, we’re completely done for the race! Why did we pit? A mystery.”
Vizard: “Hadjar is on softs, so we’re aiming to overcut him in this stint.”
Alonso: “But there are 50 laps in the race to do that! 50! Anyway, tell me the lap time you want me to do.”
Vizard: “Expect Hamilton to be just ahead of you out of the pits. He pitted this lap.”
Alonso: “Of course! Of course he is [ahead].”
Lap 20
Alonso: “Any info? What pace do you want now? Is there another threat? Did we give clean air to others, or what did we do? What lap time do you want from me?”
Vizard: “Target is Plan A, Fernando. Plan A. We’re on lap 20.”
Shortly after, the retirement would follow.
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