diffuser wrote: ↑06 Nov 2023, 17:06
ALO_Power wrote: ↑06 Nov 2023, 16:13
majki2111 wrote: ↑06 Nov 2023, 14:05
I rewatched the race on Alonsos onboard cam and not for once his engineer wathced ahead. It was only for first 10 laps when he was telling Fernanado the gap to Norris. And after that in the middle of Medium stint he told Alonso how far Norris is and that he was to fast. So for 60 laps they only watched what was happening behind Alonso and how Perez was progressing trough the field. So for 90% this was defensive race.
In direct battle with Perez engineer was only telling gap to Perez on Start-finish straight and when Alosno can use energy. Corner lines and driving was pure Alonso talent.
Another interesting thing, somewhere during mid-race when Perez was closing down on Alonso with mediums and Alonso said that it's all good for him, he then started having a detailed discussion about the strategy and some temperatures and stuff (can't remember exactly) and then his mechanic chuckled and said "I'm impressed".
Amazing how he can keep his thought crystal clear while driving an F1 car to the limit, while being chased by a Red Bull, and all of that in his 42 years. Impressive.
If someone has the clip, feel free to post it.
He was talking about the tire strategy Plan A and Plan B. He was doing the calculations of how far off they were from Plan B. None of that mattered, he was ordered to pit for softs the lap after Perez did.
Some people have this misconception that Alonso is making all the decisions while he is in the cockpit. It isn't true. He is super fast to execute whatever the engineer tells him to. I forget who his race engineer is but he is one of the best I've heard. He'll usually express himself in 2 different ways. Yesterday in the race, after the race restart and Alonso got past Hamilton, he told Alonso "You're too fast into 6 and 7, we think you'll be faster overall if you slow down". Other times he'll say "Consider white button for turn 4.", meaning try it and see. Usually all you'll get from Alonso is "Copy." He'll do whatever he's asked without question...but If stuff isn't working out, he'll get upset.
I think what I said got misunderstood. I never mentioned that he decides the strategy himself, I mentioned that the facts and calculations he was discussing (while still trying to keep them encoded) impressed his own engineer quite much for the level of detail they had.
That's it.
For me that's quite remarkable to be able to think so clearly at those conditions and I don't think it's a given for all drivers.
I could be wrong, but that's my view.
As for experience, it's definitely a great asset in a driver's arsenal but managing to combine this with the rest skills he has while maintaining his endurance at that age, is also undoubtedly quite impressive in my book.