Transcript: "So this is the end of our race?" Alonso's luckless Australian GP

Fernando Alonso was the last driver to take the chequered flag at the end of the Australian Grand Prix.

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But a little over 24 hours earlier this Alpine driver looked on course to pull off a major upset. Following a problem with his car in qualifying, he endured a luckless Sunday, as his radio messages relate.

Alonso set the timing screen alight with his first run in Q3, until he reached turn 11. There a hydraulic problem caused a failed downshift, pitching him wide and into a barrier.

The only upside was the lack of significant damage the gearbox meant Alonso’s car could be repaired without penalty. But a potential starting position on the first two rows turned into 10th on the grid.

With the soft tyres proving too fragile for a race stint and the mediums preferred by most drivers, Alonso was among the minority of drivers who opted to start the race on hard tyres. This promised to pay off if the race ran for a long time without a Safety Car period.

Qualifying misfortune left Alonso 10th on the grid

There was a brief interruption soon after the race started, when Carlos Sainz Jnr retired. He also started on the hard tyres, alongside Alonso, but got away poorly and soon spun into a gravel trap.

Alonso held 10th at this early stage. Further behind him last-placed Lance Stroll used the advantage of having no cars in his mirrors to get his mandatory tyre change out of the way. He pitted for medium compound tyres, did a lap, then had hard tyres fitted again, all behind the Safety Car.

But that wasn’t an option for Alonso, who was urged by race engineer Karel Loos to concentrate on keeping his tyre temperatures up behind the Safety Car ahead of the restart:

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Lap	Speaker	Message
1	Loos	You’ve got yellow turn 10 at the moment.
1	Loos	Gap 0.7 behind.
2	Loos	Careful with lift and shift between 13 and 14 please.
2	Alonso	Okay.
2	Loos	Virtual Safety Car, Virtual Safety Car. Your pit window is closed.
2	Loos	So we’ve got a Virtual Safety Car for Sainz who’s stuck in the gravel exit of turn 10. Currently, you’re still P10. Let’s get straight onto keeping temperature in these tyres.
2	Loos	Okay full Safety Car, Safety car, staying out, staying out.
3	Loos	So only car stopped, Stroll gone hard to medium. Can we have b-bal 12, b-bal 12.
3	Loos	Did you manage to get an initial feel for balance?
3	Alonso	Not so much. Very low-grip. Still (unclear) I think.
3	Loos	Yeah, copy.
3	Loos	Go B-bal 11, please, B-bal 11.
4	Loos	So just an update on a situation behind so Stroll boxing again, going back to the hard tyre.
4	Loos	B-bal nine, B-bal nine.
4	Loos	Let’s try to keep doing all we can to keep temperature in these tyres.
4	Loos	Okay so Safety Car is in this lap. Suggest to do more weaving, more weaving.
5	Loos	So for the restart just a few reminders. Reset your brake balance, which you’re just doing now – it will be recharge off for the restart.
5	Loos	And no overtaking until the control line.

After the restart the race began to come to Alonso. Gradually those who started on the medium compound gave them up for hards, including those ahead, some of which reappeared behind him.

Having followed Pierre Gasly since the start of the race, Alonso sniffed fresh air for the first time after the AlphaTauri driver pitted. He reeled off consecutive laps of 1’24.7, 1’24.6 and 1’24.6 as he finally tapped into the pace of the surprisingly rapid Alpine.

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8	Loos	Okay so DRS enabled.
8	Loos	Currently 0.9 behind Gasly, Tsunoda 0.8 behind you.
9	Loos	Target plus two.
10	Loos	Okay there might be some gravel around the exit of turn 11.
10	Loos	Tyre update and update on status please.
11	Alonso	Struggling a bit. Status zero. I try to overtake.
11	Loos	Copy that. People on the mediums also struggling with tyres at the moment.
12	Loos	Okay mate just a reminder we’re on plan A so need to be smart about this point at the moment.
13	Loos	Just a reminder, try to do what we can about slip exit of turn 11.
13	Loos	So just try the bottom-right for turn six.
13	Alonso	Copy.
15	Alonso	They are too slow now, they are too slow now.
15	Loos	Copy that. Just for info car behind 2.5 is Bottas.
15	Alonso	Locking up. I’ll be out of DRS just this lap.
15	Loos	Copy that mate. Try to stay patient.
16	Loos	So everyone boxing.
17	Loos	Okay overtake available. Verstappen close at pit exit.
18	Loos	Nice job mate. Suggest high-speed eight when you can, high-speed eight.
18	Alonso	Very understeering.
19	Loos	Okay understood.
19	Loos	Fail bravo two zero off. Fail bravo two zero off.
19	Alonso	Zero off?
19	Loos	Two zero off, correct.
20	Loos	Suggest trying shape one, shape one.
21	Loos	Okay and behind Gasly just boxed.
21	Loos	Exit 10 exit 10.
22	Loos	Behind you Bottas boxed. Car behind you is Hamilton now, just stopped for hard tyres.
22	Loos	Also behind Bottas has now stopped for hard tyres as well. Only one car left on the medium, which is Russell.

But it didn’t last. On lap 23 Sebastian Vettel spun into the barriers at turn four, bringing out the Safety Car.

With more than half the race still to run, Alonso knew his strategy was fatally compromised, as attempting to finish the remaining 35 laps on a set of the medium rubber was not realistic.

22	Loos	Okay Safety Car, Safety Car, staying out, staying out.
22	Alonso	Are you sure, mate? We can do… I don’t know.
22	Loos	Negative, staying out.
22	Alonso	Okay, so this is the end of our race, I guess.
23	Alonso	Still a long way to go, mate. There might be more opportunities.

At the restart Alonso was in fourth place, but the Safety Car had brought his pursuer back within range, and he was swiftly demoted by the likes of Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton on their medium tyres.

23	Loos	Can we have PU 13 position eight and watch out for debris where you are.
23	Alonso	13 position eight?
23	Loos	Affirm, 13 position eight.
23	Loos	So for the next stop just for info we’re taking out plus four turns total from the front wing.
23	Alonso	Okay. Yeah, but I will be overtaken now, it’s going to be a mess.
23	Loos	We’ve got margin for some brake warming.
23	Alonso	It’s going to be a long one so you want to start now?
23	Loos	Copy that, keep doing some weaving if you can.
24	Loos	Can we have B-bal nine please.
24	Loos	So correction can we go B-bal 12, please, B-bal 12.
25	Loos	Safety Car in this lap. Let’s work these tyres as much as we can then reset your brake balance. It will be recharge off for the restart.
25	Loos	So recharge off.
27	Loos	So Perez 0.4 behind.
28	Loos	DRS enabled.
28	Alonso	Yeah. It will be impossible to hold it back
28	Loos	Copy that mate.

Alonso clung to sixth for several laps while the McLaren drivers picked their way past Kevin Magnussen behind him.

He had just fallen into the clutches of the McLarens when Max Verstappen retired, triggering another Virtual Safety Car period. Alpine were just able to get him in for a pit stop during the brief delay, but he resumed out of the points in 13th.

28	Loos	Russell 0.4.
30	Loos	The car behind you now is Magnussen. He’s got same age tyre as you.
32	Loos	You are three-tenths quicker than Magnussen behind. Magnussen behind fighting with Norris and Ricciardo.
33	Loos	So car behind now is Norris, 2.6 behind.
35	Loos	To Norris, 2.3, he did a 23.9.
35	Loos	Time to gain compared to Norris is 12 and 13.
36	Loos	How are the tyres?
36	Alonso	Front-left gone.
36	Loos	Okay, so when you can go exit 11, exit 11, and high-speed five.
36	Loos	Norris now 1.1 behind.
36	Loos	Overtake available.
38	Loos	Safety Car window is open. Virtual Safety Car, Virtual Safety Car. So stick to your delta. And you’re happy with four turns on front wing?
38	Alonso	I guess so.
38	Alonso	Check if Norris overtook me at turn one under yellow.
38	Loos	Yep will do. We are boxing this lap.
38	Alonso	Okay box.
38	Loos	You will come out in traffic so push at pit exit.
38	Loos	Pit exit, can overtake until Safety Car Line Two.
38	Loos	Okay.
38	Loos	VSC ending, VSC ending.

Alonso felt Gasly took too long to pass Stroll

Alonso’s misfortune had left him behind, among others, Stroll, who now had Gasly in his mirrors. Alonso was mystified by the amount of time it was taking the AlphaTauri driver to clear the Aston Martin.

40	Loos	17 laps to go at the end of this lap.
41	Loos	This train of cars is held up by Stroll in P9.
44	Loos	Alonso passes Schumacher Nice one mate.
44	Loos	So for further info Stroll ahead has a five second penalty.
47	Alonso	Who is in the AlphaTauri?
47	Loos	Gasly.
47	Alonso	[Unclear] why he don’t overtake.
48	Loos	Schumacher 0.4 behind.
49	Alonso	[Unclear]
49	Loos	Gasly has got past Stroll.

Now one of only two drivers on mediums, Alonso found his degraded quickly in the queue of traffic. Magnussen, the other driver on the same compound, appeared in his mirrors as Alonso was passed by Zhou Guanyu and sunk to 13th.

At this point he pitted for another set of mediums, seemingly in an effort to entertain himself with a bid for the fastest lap. Though by this point he was clearly doomed to finish outside the top 10 and therefore could not score the bonus point.

49	Alonso	The front left completely gone.
49	Loos	Copy.
49	Loos	Mid one available, mid one.
50	Loos	Zhou 0.4 behind.
50	Loos	Car ahead of you now is Stroll.
50	Loos	So reminder Stroll has a five second penalty and ahead Albon still needs to stop.
51	Loos	So Magnussen 0.3 behind.
51	Alonso	Yeah the front left [unclear] think what to do.
51	Loos	Copy that.
52	Loos	Okay mate we’re going to box this lap for another set of mediums.
52	Alonso	Copy.
52	Loos	So box this lap.
52	Loos	Clear on pit exit. Perez about five seconds behind.
53	Loos	Three laps remaining after this one.
53	Loos	Perez at the moment doing 21.9.
53	Loos	Solid blue for Perez behind.
53	Loos	Got Russell and Hamilton still coming up behind.
53	Loos	Solid blue for Russell. It’s back to flashing blue.
55	Loos	Currently the fastest lap is 20.9.
55	Loos	Solid blue for Russell behind.
55	Loos	And next car behind is Hamilton, currently flashing blue for him.
55	Loos	There’s a 21 second gap behind Hamilton. Solid blue now for Hamilton.
55	Loos	SOC two available SOC two.

On his final lap Alonso produced a 1’20.846 which stood as the second-fastest lap of the day. Race winner Charles Leclerc had kept enough in hand for a late flier which ensured he did not lose the bonus point.

But for Alonso, a weekend which promised so much yielded nothing. Esteban Ocon in the other Alpine came home in the position Alonso’s strategist predicted he would have taken had it not been for an ill-timed Safety Car.

56	Loos	Okay and scenario 12 please, scenario 12.
57	Loos	Sorry mate a tough one. Leclerc improved his lap to 20.3 at the end.
57	Alonso	What was our race without a safety car? P7?
57	Loos	Er… yes.
End	Loos	Okay so finishing order Leclerc, Perez, Russell, then Hamilton, Norris, Ricciardo. Esteban finished P7 in front of Bottas, Gasly and Albon.
End	Alonso	Okay.

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24 comments on ““So this is the end of our race, I guess?” How Alonso’s luckless Australian GP unfolded”

cduk_mugello (@cduk_mugello)
14th April 2022, 7:54

Sure he got a badly timed safety car. But his performance on fresh tyres from lap 38 onwards has nothing to do with luck. Something the Alonso fan club gloss over as it doesn’t fit the narrative.

Situs (@situs)
14th April 2022, 8:16

He had to overtake or finish off points. It was the last stint. There was no other chance anymore.
Qeki (@qeki)
14th April 2022, 8:27

Being a member of that club I can say it was KARMA
1. Ken
  14th April 2022, 18:33
  
  @Qeki
  
  And perhaps Hamilton is finally getting a dose of KARMA himself for starting the incident in Hungary in 2007 and the fallout between ALO and McLaren.
  
  In case you are not aware, the infamous incident in qualifying at Hungary in 2007, was initiated by HAM. HAM was ordered by the team to let ALO go by so he could get in a flyer. HAM, a rookie refused to follow orders which incensed ALO and caused him to respond HAM in kind by holding up in the pits.
  
  ALO was penalized 5 spots on the grid which hurt and most likely prevented his chances of winning the WDC.
  
  Obviously ALO’s actions after that incident were wrong. But let’s not paint HAM as an innocent victim. If Karma does exist, HAM’s time may have finally arrived.
  1. KittyLitter
    14th April 2022, 19:23
    
    @Ken +1
  2. Tristan (@skipgamer)
    15th April 2022, 2:51
    
    15 years and 7 championships later…
    1. Henry
      15th April 2022, 15:08
      
      Maybe the 8th WDC that was in the bag for him until the Latifi crash was the beginning of his misfortune.
    2. Ken
      15th April 2022, 15:13
      
      Read last sentence. Granted it’s late in coming.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
14th April 2022, 9:37

@cduk_mugello He rejoined the race well outside the top 10. He had to risk it trying to pass several cars in a DRS train. Sometimes you just have to go for it and risk the long-term. He had nothing to lose. Finishing 17th and 12th is no different in points.

Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
14th April 2022, 8:13

“The car behind you now is Magnussen. He’s got same age tyre as you.”

To me this fact explains just how poorly alonso managed his tyres. He got passed by both Magnussen and Schumacher, and will have certainly got passed by tsunoda on track too had he not pitted. Probably latifi too.

Ivan B (@njoydesign)
14th April 2022, 14:22

That last stint is a mystery. I was really expecting him to fly by the cars in front having much fresher and softer tyres. The reality was rather disappointing

Situs (@situs)
14th April 2022, 8:21

Bad luck, but I believe it’s only a matter of time before bad luck turns into happiness. His speed in qualifying was a great encouragement after a long time.

Todfod (@todfod)
14th April 2022, 8:51

I think the weekend just went to the gutter for him starting in Q3. He could have put that car on P4 if not P3, instead started P10. When the race was finally coming to him, the safety car came out. When he put on the mediums he got stuck in a DRS train. I think he just had enough at that point. Tyre condition, pit stops, etc didn’t even matter.

Hopefully, he finds this form for another race weekend and it goes clean for him. Have no doubt he can put it on the podium this year.

GeeMac (@geemac)
14th April 2022, 9:23

Fail bravo two zero off. Fail bravo two zero off.

Am I the only one who gets the “Bravo Two Zero” reference?

Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
14th April 2022, 10:56

@geemac Yeah I noticed that! Accidental Partridge too…
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
14th April 2022, 11:32

I don’t know about that reference, but bravo means good in italian, so it could be taken as a joke comment “good one, that’s a fail race”!, joking ofc cause there’s a huge amount of bad luck in this weekend.
1. GeeMac (@geemac)
  14th April 2022, 12:15
  
  @esploratore1 Bravo Two Zero was the name of an SAS unit which was deployed in the Gulf War. There is a cracking book about what happened to them.

Wellbalanced
14th April 2022, 9:48

Positive feedback for RaceFans: these full-race radio transcripts, with analysis, are my favourite articles on this site.

Second favourite: the race weekend diaries.

satellite
14th April 2022, 10:14

He reeled off consecutive laps of 1’14.7, 1’14.6 and 1’14.6

This doesn’t seem right. Shouldn’t these be 1’24s?

Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
14th April 2022, 10:57

Indeed – sorry, my bad.

Red Andy (@red-andy)
14th April 2022, 10:45

Having your strategy hinge on the non-appearance of the safety car at Albert Park, of all places, does not seem like the best gamble.

Esploratore (@esploratore1)
14th April 2022, 11:34

Worse would be trying that in monaco or jeddah or singapore!
Luke S (@joeypropane)
14th April 2022, 11:54

That was my thought – High speed street circuit, likes of Stroll, Latify, and even Seb now, on circuit and you’re gunning for a strategy that hopes there ISN’T a safety car??
Keith Campbell (@keithedin)
14th April 2022, 19:16

@red-andy But it completely depended on when that safety car came out. Coming out at 1/3 distance was disastrous for those starting on hands. Coming out at 2/3 race distance would have been amazing. You can’t predict those things. Given that both he and Sainz were starting out of position compared to their expected race pace, I like going for the contrary strategy to give them better chances of making progress.

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“So this is the end of our race, I guess?” How Alonso’s luckless Australian GP unfolded

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24 comments on ““So this is the end of our race, I guess?” How Alonso’s luckless Australian GP unfolded”