An overlooked team orders row in the Hungarian Grand Prix played out very different to the one which decided the outcome of the race.
While Lando Norris begrudgingly accepted McLaren’s instruction to let his team mate past, Lance Stroll refused to do the same at Aston Martin.With six laps to go, Aston Martin told Fernando Alonso to let Stroll past into 10th place, the final points-paying position. Stroll had made his last pit stop later than Alonso and was on fresher tyres, and Aston Martin wanted to give him the opportunity to attack Yuki Tsunoda who was three-and-a-half seconds ahead of them.
Alonso’s race engineer Chris Cronin gave him warning of the team’s plan. “Fernando we’ve got one more lap to close up on Tsunoda,” he said with eight laps to go. “But if not we might give… we’re going to give Lance a chance.”
“We will swap back,” Cronin added after they changed places. “If he doesn’t get him, we will swap back.”
Stroll was given similar messages at the same time “Fernando will give you DRS, we’ll go past him into turn one and then we need to get Tsunoda,” his race engineer Andrew Vizard told him. “Everything to get Tsunoda now, otherwise we will swap back at the end of the race,” he added.
However from the outset Stroll indicated his dissatisfaction with the instruction. “I would have passed Fernando, but okay,” he replied.
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Although Stroll took over half a second per lap out of Tsunoda, his chances of passing the RB looked slim. Cronin advised Alonso to stay within range so he wasn’t at risk of being lapped by leader Oscar Piastri
Stroll chased Tsunoda around the final lap but never got close enough to attempt a pass on the RB. As he entered the final sector, Vizard reminded him to give the place up.
“Lance, if you don’t get him now, you need to switch back before the line,” he said. “Fernando is four seconds behind you. There is no pressure behind.”
As he neared the line Vizard tried again. “Lance, suggest you drop back. Let Fernando past. He’s four seconds back.”
Stroll, whose father owns the Aston Martin team, gave no reply. He took the chequered flag in 10th place, scoring the final point. Neither he nor Alonso made any further comment as they returned to the pits.
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Alonso also appeared to assist Stroll early in the race, after both started on soft tyres. Alonso ran ahead of his team mate in the first stint and pitted on lap seven, while Stroll stayed out until lap 13, longer than anyone who began the race on softs.
Alexander Albon believes Aston Martin used Alonso at that point to delay other drivers who had pitted early and help Stroll. “Fernando was playing a good team game,” said Albon. “He bunched up the whole group to to allow Lance to come to pit and extend his stint.”
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2024 Hungarian Grand Prix
- Verstappen names Hungarian GP the most stressful moment of his title-winning year
- McLaren team orders “a new situation we’re inexperienced at handling” – Piastri
- Verstappen dismisses critics of “vocal” radio messages and late-night simracing
- Norris’ former McLaren team mates say he was right to give up win
- Mercedes surprised Hamilton’s car was “completely unscathed” in Verstappen clash
David
22nd July 2024, 12:20
Fernando, Stroll is faster than you! Charma
Nick T.
22nd July 2024, 12:22
They’ve been doing this almost every race after the car became uncompetitive to make Lance look less Lance. They’ve also consistently ensured Lance gets a clean quali lap in Q3 or whatever quali session looks like they’ll be on the verge of getting knocked out and two races on the bounce their strategy has ensured Alonso got no run on new tires in Q3 and it’s happened in multiple other qualifyings.
Alonso didn’t even care about the P10, which is why he said nothing about the places not being swapped. But Stroll now believes he’s been legitimately competing with FA. So, he’s really pumped up. lol I’m pretty sure Fernando and Lawrence both wanted to make Lance look less pathetic to help lure Adrian Newey, which looks like it’s been successful. Reportedly, Ferrari has fallen out of contention after balking at one of Newey’s demands while of course Lawrence has agreed to them + an extra $15m per year on top of what Ferrari would pay.
Nick T.
22nd July 2024, 12:32
ps – thank you @racefans for taking care of that post error
nmgn (@nmgn)
22nd July 2024, 17:09
This hits the nail on the head. Often missed by F1tv coverage/Sky’s commentary btw.
Dale
22nd July 2024, 23:06
They’re likely all getting regular ‘product hampers’ from Papa Strolls’ various brands.
Like their access to ‘staff or ambassador price’ Mercedes Benz’s too …
Nick T.
24th July 2024, 1:36
Frankly, they barely cover or explain how anyone who is not in the top 5 have gotten where they’ve gotten. It really does a disservice to any fans trying to understand F1. And they have plenty of time to at least cover it in their interminable pre and post race shows.
PT (@pt)
24th July 2024, 21:54
Commentators have particularly been silent on what goes on at Aston Martin, unless they’re fighting at the front. I’ve been noticing this since last year.
Nick T.
25th July 2024, 21:31
Yeah, they hate Alonso with a passion. Always have.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
24th July 2024, 10:44
probably the sickest thing F1 is promoting right now, the idea that Lance has any quality of greatness equal to or near the measure of one Fernando Alonso. please…
BLS (@brightlampshade)
22nd July 2024, 13:22
It’s just silly short term thinking from Stroll. His tyre delta on Alonso wasn’t huge so it wouldn’t have been a simple job to get past without Alonso’s co-operation. Will Alonso be so giving next time when Stroll has a chance to make up places? Yes he “gained” a point here, but will likely lose more in future without team cooperation.
Was it 2018 when Hamilton let Bottas back through on the last corner here in Hungry despite being mid championship battle? I’m sure he didn’t want to, but he would have known that long term it makes sense, would keep Bottas on side and more likely to let him past when needed.
José Lopes da Silva
22nd July 2024, 14:40
But Hamilton did not own his seat
Red Pill (@redpill)
22nd July 2024, 17:35
@brightlampshade
Yes, you are correct about Ham giving the position to Bottas.
Jere (@jerejj)
22nd July 2024, 17:38
@brightlampshade 2007, but indeed & ultimately, low likelihood of affecting his championship in the first place, given his relative car advantage, not to mention the points gap started increasing eventually anyway.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
23rd July 2024, 5:27
Unfortunately none of the answers you got are correct regarding the hamilton episode, though I believe jere had it correct and made a typo, it was hungary 2017, where hamilton was behind vettel in the championship, ferrari was gonna finish 1-2 that race, bottas let hamilton by to give him a chance to overtake raikkonen and then hamilton, to the surprise of many, gave him back the place at the last lap after he failed to overtake.
So 2017 had the very fair behaviour, 2018 had the unnecessary team order, when bottas had to give up a win in russia for hamilton despite a 50 points advantage in the championship.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
23rd July 2024, 5:28
Well, saying they were incorrect was a bit much, more like that they didn’t correct the 2018 date.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
22nd July 2024, 13:48
Whatever happened to Aston Martin? They are so relegated that no one knows what’s even happening.
I can’t believe they managed to build a car that doesn’t suit Alonso but Mercedes have done the same for Lewis so I guess we should not be surprised.
Then again, they also had Vettel driving for them and didn’t build a super car for him either.
ben
22nd July 2024, 14:00
I get the impression Aston Martin built a great car last year by basically copying the RedBull from the year before. They didn’t really understand it, but they cashed in while Ferrari, Mclaren and Mercedes were struggling. Now those three seem to have a good foundation to work on and most upgrades work. Aston on the other hand don’t really understand what made their car so fast last year and are now a year or two behind the curve.
Newey will be able to help them when he joins, but that won’t help them next year and 2026 will become an engine championship again.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
24th July 2024, 10:45
Vettel was tired of being Lance’s whipping boy, so now they are paying Alonso to be his pet mule. Its literally vomit.
This is literally a Richard Prior movie.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
22nd July 2024, 13:54
Just think back to all the nice things Fernando has said about you Lance!
Or did you think he was being sarcastic?
Yes …. yes, maybe he was.
someone or something
22nd July 2024, 16:39
Pfffff … good luck.
Leroy (@g-funk)
22nd July 2024, 15:17
If Newey doesn’t sign with Aston, how long do you think Fernando will want to continue playing wetnurse to Baby Stroll?
Red Pill (@redpill)
22nd July 2024, 17:40
@g-funk
I guess when Alonso is willing to retire. I doubt any other team is willing to hire him at the fee’s he demands. Sticking with AM is just putting big money in his bank for retirement life; and he gets to drive an F1 car while being given tens of millions to do so.
I also think AM will make a comeback and will be somewhat more competitive in some of the upcoming races.
Leroy (@g-funk)
22nd July 2024, 19:02
@redpill Having no other options is a fair point but Fernando has never struck me as someone who was in it only for the money. He pictures himself as a samurai warrior (with the tattoos to show for it). He wants to be battling for pride and honor, not to take home a paycheck for retirement.
Red Pill (@redpill)
23rd July 2024, 6:11
@g-funk Agreed, but what does he do when he can’t battle? I don’t think taking it up with upper management about the other driver will be too productive.
I’m sure Alonso is pushing them get back up to speed.
Nick T.
23rd July 2024, 17:33
As we’ve seen, due to tensions, we may seem some crazy moves by drivers. I wouldn’t be surprised if Max ditched RBR for somewhere else and RBR was left with no top drivers. I could see the same happening with Leclerc at Ferrari and jumping ship. So, there could be some opportunities. But, yeah, who knows.
Ambrogio Isgro
22nd July 2024, 17:47
He’s paid well enough as a babysitter
Nick T.
24th July 2024, 1:37
But he doesn’t care about the $. He’s waiting on the promise of Lawrence’s investment.
Jere (@jerejj)
22nd July 2024, 17:40
Even though the swap happened outside the world feed footage, I noticed it on the live timing track map, happening between T1 & 2, & yes, zero threat in doing the same as McLaren, especially as Alonso wasn’t going to get lapped anymore after their swap.
SteveM
22nd July 2024, 18:56
Breaking News!
Team Owner’s son goes against team orders. Who would have thought that he could be so brave? Bet daddy really told him off at the dinner table that night!
Simon
22nd July 2024, 20:40
The sooner Lance strolls out of F1 and into the horizon the better.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
23rd July 2024, 1:31
A fundamental part of doing a swap back is confirming the element of trust between the drivers and the team. What Lance did was to show the team he wasn’t trustworthy. I don’t suppose that is important to him, but it will lower the team’s moral, which again probably won’t bother him.
Todfod (@todfod)
23rd July 2024, 4:43
Alonso doesn’t seem to give a shhite this season about picking up the odd point. He looked motivated to drive at his best last season where they had a car that could contend for podiums and put it on the front row in quali. He was fighting for P3 in the WCC, while Stroll was struggling to get points.
Lance thinks he’s matching Alonso, but honestly this is Alonso driving at 50% while Lance is requiring team orders while performing at a 100% … just to finish one position up on his teammate.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
23rd July 2024, 5:39
Yes, alonso, if it’s not age-related decline, looks really demotivated, however I don’t exactly have much trust on aston improving (money is not all in f1, as toyota showed), unless newey joins, so I’m afraid we might have seen alonso’s best, I doubt he can swap to a more competitive team at his age.
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
23rd July 2024, 7:42
That’s the difference between a class act like Norris and a spoilt nepo-baby like Stroll.
Nick T.
23rd July 2024, 17:29
Hey, when Stroll gets into that 2026 Newey car he’ll have earned his shot in a title contending car! And, if the 45yo Alonso beats the 26yo, we’ll know it’s only because Stroll’s had only nine seasons to mature.
I’ll say this for Stroll though, now that he believes he’s actually keeping up with Alonso on a level playing field, he actually seems to be driving well. I always thought he was just lazy and unfocused rather than talentless. And this has proven it to me (keeping close to even a dispirited and “unlucky”’ Alonso means you’re good), which now makes me dislike him even more as it shows how much he has always been a spoiled baby that’s taken his seat for granted and never tried to put in the work rather than just a boy without the talent to make his dad proud.