Alonso, on Hamilton: “He didn’t overtake me on the track, he did it in the pits, let’s be clear”

From lap 14 to lap 26, there were a total of 12 turns Fernando Alonso preceded by Lewis Hamilton at the 2024 F1 Canadian GP with an Aston Martin worse than the Mercedes, which at the Gilles-Villeneuve Circuit is one of the fastest. On a wet track where there was only a dry track two meters wide, the Asturian defended himself without the slightest qualm in the face of harassment from Hamilton who tried everything, including going off the track, to try pass the Asturian.

The man from Oviedo knew that if Hamilton wanted to pass him he would have to do it by leaving the dry road and braking in the wet and he went wide without hesitation. Although as Alonso said, it was something more “symbolic” than real, because at the end of the race, with the track wet and faster, the same thing could have happened to him. He caught him then, on lap 26, but not on the track, but because of Aston Martin’s worse pit stop, which was 4.3 seconds, compared to 2.4 made by Mercedes with Lewis, who passed in front of Fernando in the pit lane in that moment in the fight for 5th place.

“Hamilton is one of the fastest cars on the track and having him behind me is a symbolic thing. I know that eventually he will overtake me. When he overtakes me at the stop I don’t think it means much. Impact. It’s just a coincidence that we’re always on the grid together here in Canada, he’s faster, he’s had a better race and he deserves to be ahead but he didn’t pass me in the pit, let’s be clear,” he said with a final joke between the laugh at ‘DAZN’.

Fernando Alonso returned to the sixth track after that pit stop and maintained that position until the end, scoring some good points. after some very complicated races with an Aston Martin that seems to have moved forward, although not enough to get close to the front fight. In the wet and dry he was out of the pace of those at the top and the Spaniard could not get close to the fight for the podium.

Despite this, he left Canada smiling to return to the pointsfor taking advantage of the fact that his car is better suited to this track than previous ones, and for the confidence he has in the team to continue the development and development of the car.

“The circuit changed a bit. We marked it on the calendar. We knew it would be better for our car. From the first session we saw that we were competitive. There will be better and worse circuits. The next , the ‘home’ one, will not “It’s marked… it’s pretty average. Let’s see if the team can find something.”

“Very stressful”

“It’s very difficult. The circuit is two meters wide (because they have to drive on the dry lane made by passing cars), because outside the dry line you can crash. It’s a race where 70 laps are different , with different conditions, different times, and it’s very stressful. Congratulations to everyone, because I saw that the laps were passing and there was no safety of the car. It’s very difficult, so congratulations to everyone,” he added about the quote.

“It was an ugly race to drive. You can’t go to the limit and you don’t know the grip there on the track. When it dried there was a dark cloud and we put in intermissions again. Charles tried dry rubber, but it rained again. There are always doubts, has never been able to push to the maximum throughout the race. You always have to have something in your pocket and get the strategy right. I’m happy with Lance’s (Stroll, who’s 7th) points and mine. Sixth and seventh is a good haul after the races we’ve had,” he reasoned.