Alonso clarifies decision to use Soft tires in the Chinese Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso, from Aston Martin F1 Team AMR24, made a pit stop during the Chinese Grand Prix. The race took place on 21.04.2024 as part of the Formula 1 World Championship. Alonso explained that the limited allocation of available tires from Aston Martin led to his decision to do a shorter stint on soft tires. He started in third place and took advantage of Sergio Perez’s compromised position on the inside of Turn 1 to overtake him and secure second place. However, he ended up losing the position and was overtaken by Lando Norris, dropping to fourth place. Alonso was the first of the leading drivers to make a pit stop and switch to hard tires, but his progress was hindered by a Virtual Safety Car that turned into a full yellow flag. Aston Martin then put Alonso on a new set of soft tires before he returned to the pits with 12 laps remaining to switch to medium tires. Despite the challenges, he managed to advance from 11th to seventh place. Alonso described the race as “crazy” and acknowledged that the Safety Cars affected his strategy. He also mentioned the lack of options due to having only one set of hard tires. Despite the difficulties, Alonso considered it a good weekend overall. He overtook Nico Hulkenberg, Lewis Hamilton, and Oscar Piastri to secure seventh place, scoring points as the only Aston Martin driver to do so. His teammate, Lance Stroll, was in tenth place but collided with Daniel Ricciardo’s car at Turn 14, resulting in a 10-second time penalty and a 15th place for Stroll.