The AMR23’s engine roared for one last time in 2023 at the Yas Marina circuit earlier today.
As the sun began to set, the 20 drivers geared up for the final race of the season, seventeen of them, including Fernando Alonso, opted for the medium tires to start the race.
After starting from the seventh spot on the grid, and switching to hard tyres early on lap 12, Alonso’s strategy set the stage for an intense duel with Lewis Hamilton. Emerging from the pit lane following his second stop, Alonso slowed down strategically to try and deny Hamilton a DRS advantage, but Hamilton backed off as well.
Although the seven-time World Champion did pass Alonso initially, the Spaniard got him back on the next lap and pulled a small gap eventually.
Despite claims that Alonso was brake testing Hamilton by fans and the Mercedes driver himself, Sky Sports F1’s Anthony Davidson theorised that Alonso was “trying to let Lewis past him, or whatever car he thought was behind him, racing up to that DRS detection point to hopefully give himself the DRS in fighting Lewis when he comes around onto the straight.”
In post-race interviews, Hamilton shared his thoughts, noting:
“We were flat out at 400 metres, 300 metres before the corner and doing 180mph, and the guy all of a sudden slowed down drastically ahead of me.”
This was a déjà vu moment for the drivers, reminiscent of their clash in Canada in 2013.
“Lewis is obviously very clever and understands the sport really good and has a lot of experience, but I have more,”
“We did the same in Canada, I think, in 2012 [it was 2013].
“So 11 [10] years after that episode, we try just to give the DRS to the other guy, braking for turn five. But in both cases, I won. So, it’s okay.”
The move left the paddock buzzing and despite Hamilton’s protests that the move was a ‘brake test’, Alonso was unfazed by Hamilton’s comments, and the stewards took no action regarding the incident.
Despite Aston Martin’s admitted weakness on the straights throughout the race, Alonso’s racecraft shone through. The team needed a lot more pace to overtake on the straights as the Spaniard struggled to pass Tsunoda and Sainz on much older tyres. A recurring problem throughout the season, with Alonso highlighting:
“We need a lot more pace to really overtake we were a little bit slow on the straights we noticed yesterday but obviously that was the best compromise for us in terms of total lap time but it’s something that has been our weakness all throughout the season… something that we will work on for next year’s car.”
Speaking about tyre degradation throughout the race, Alonso noted that the team “expected [it]to be on the high side but [it] probably was even a little bit higher than expectations.
“At the end, I think the pace was only good for seventh or eighth, as I said yesterday, the lap and the qualifying was very good position.
“But the pace, it was a concern as we saw today. We were just [fast] enough to beat AlphaTauri. That’s not enough.”
