Fernando Alonso’s Bold Soft Tire Strategy in F1 Chinese GP

Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin was among the only drivers to use soft tires midway through the Chinese Grand Prix as he had no hard tires remaining.

The Spanish driver began the grand prix with one fresh set of hards and two fresh sets of mediums. During the race Alonso made a total of three pit stops, having started the race on mediums and switching to his only set of hard tires after 11 laps.

A safety car period was initiated after Valtteri Bottas’ came to a stop due to engine issues which saw the team pit Alonso for the second time and put him on softs for the race restart; however, Alonso had to pit again as the soft tires were not going to last him until the finish line. He made a late pitstop for his second set of mediums that saw him fall from fifth position to 12th. Despite losing seven positions, 42-year old managed to build his way back up to seventh and even scored the fastest lap point.

Image from: https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/04/21/alonso-explains-reason-behind-soft-tyre-stint-in-f1-chinese-gp/

In a post-race interview, Alonso said of the strategy, “We didn’t have any more hard tires. We has one soft and one medium and 35 laps in front of us which, in our calculations, it was not possible to make it to the end.”

Despite the odd three-stop strategy, Alonso impressed throughout the race, having overtaken Sergio Perez for second place at the race start. After pitting for the third time and falling down the grid, Alonso passed the likes Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri. At one point the ambitious Spaniard went onto the gravel and looked like he was going to go into the barriers but managed to maneuver his way back onto the track before any damage was done.

Image from: https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/04/21/alonso-explains-reason-behind-soft-tyre-stint-in-f1-chinese-gp/

Alonso said of his performance after the final pit stop, “It was good to have the fasted lap, good to feel the car fast. We have a good DRS this year, so it was very easy to overtake. I nearly crashed at the last corner; I was pushing my maximum.”

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack said of the tire strategy, “All in all, if you look at the pace of the car, which was not good enough in the race, the optimum result without the safety car was not good enough in the race, the optimum result without the safety car would have been maybe sixth. Now we finished seventh with the fastest lap. Damage limitation.”