What happens on the pit wall during a Grand Prix can be just as important if not more so than what the driver is doing on track.
Just ask Lando Norris as he still searches for his first race win after a late call cost him victory at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix.
While no strategy call was going to deny Max Verstappen his fourth win of the season, commentating on the race for Sky Sports F1, Nico Rosberg lamented the decision-making of one team.
Ferrari and McLaren can be praised for keeping Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc out to secure 2 and 4-place finishes with their one-stop strategy.
Red Bull had a comfortable enough buffer to pit their drivers twice, although puzzlingly Sergio Perez never had the pace to catch Norris after the second safety car.
However, Nico Rosberg was unhappy with Aston Martin’s strategy for Fernando Alonso which ultimately scuppered his race.
They made some bizarre tyre choices for the Spaniard throughout the race and he was forced to pit late on and battle his way through the pack.
While he still scored seven points and took the fastest lap, it felt like a weekend of missed opportunities for the 42-year-old.
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Nico Rosberg questions Fernando Alonso’s strategy during the Chinese Grand Prix
While Norris and Leclerc nailed their one-stop strategies, Alonso visited the pit lane three times in China.
He only had a single set of fresh hard tyres and two sets of mediums for the race.
They made the decision to start him on the medium compound tyre and then use the hards after 11 laps particularly baffling.
It meant they had little choice to move onto the soft tyres when the safety car came out but there was no way he was going to get to the end of the race on that set.
Alonso was the final driver to change his tyres and with so many drivers running until the end of the race after the second safety car, he had some serious work to do.
Rosberg wasn’t happy with Alonso’s strategy but it’s hard to imagine he could have finished much further up the pecking order if he had only done a two-stop race.
His new tyres also helped him secure another precious point for the fastest lap and denied Verstappen a grand slam.
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Rare misstep from Aston Martin cost Fernando Alonso in China
Speaking about Alonso’s tyre dilemma, Rosberg said: “Well they made such a bad choice with their tyres for Fernando’s [Alonso] car, he has no choice.
“If he pits now, he’s going to drop so far back, he has no choice but to try to go to the end on this.
Later in the race, he added: “For sure, he got caught out, that was not ideal when the second safety car came out but still, this was really such a weird decision on strategy.
“For me, that was never going to work, so a really bad call there from Aston Martin.”
Covering the event for The Race, expert Mark Hughes remarked: “Very weird strategy for Alonso. I have no idea why Aston Martin would do what it did.”
Alonso was pushing until the chequered flag and nearly made the same mistake as Carlos Sainz going into the final corner.
However, he kept his car in a straight line, prompting Damon Hill to say on X: “Slow mo of Alonso last corner please!!! @alo_oficial #f1 #legend.”
Aston Martin will want to avoid a repeat of their strategy error with Alonso going forward as right now he’s their only hope of scoring big points every weekend.Sam Bird suggested he drove ‘absolutely perfectly’ in Shanghai, but that only equated to seven points.
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