By leaving him the gain of 6th place on Sunday at the end of the Spanish Grand Prix, not sure that Fernando Alonso really gave Lance Stroll a gift. Or it takes on a somewhat poisonous flavor, putting the Canadian’s status as a daddy’s boy – and son of the boss – back in the spotlight. A label that has stuck with him severely since the start of his Formula 1 career. And even more so since he joined his billionaire father in the Racing Point team in 2019, which became Aston Martin two years later.
Thus, on Sunday, when he came back very strongly on Stroll at the end of the race, Fernando Alonso curiously made an act of submission by throwing to his team, via his radio: “Tell Lance not to worry, I just want create a gap with the cars behind in the event of rain.” In other words, despite a much faster pace and cooler tires, the Spaniard had no intention of attacking his teammate. What could pass for a good team spirit, but it hardly fits the ultra-competitive side of the Taurus of Asturias, whose (many) passes of arms with his various teammates are part of his legend.
A choice that the double world champion justified after the race as follows: “There were only ten laps to go, I had slightly cooler tires but I was only driving two or three tenths faster than him (Editor’s note: a little more in reality). So I wasn’t going to go crazy and try something very complicated when finishing 6th and 7th, or 7th and 6th didn’t change anything.
Probably, if Alonso had inherited the same characteristics as those of a certain Pinocchio, his nose would then have lengthened disproportionately on the spot. Except that obviously, the Spaniard, at 41, has learned to put water in his wine, and to avoid any conflict with the boss of his team, Lawrence Stroll, determined to hatch his offspring too as long as his wealthy bank account will allow. Suddenly, Alonso had to settle for a 7th place in front of his public in Barcelona, his worst ranking of the season, which lost two points in the World Championship standings, in which he occupies 3rd place 18 points behind Sergio Pérez. and 12 units ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
But what does it matter for the Spaniard, transformed into a nice Saint-Bernard for Lance Stroll, whom he had already defended a few days ago by saying that he had been “unlucky” in the last races. “Obviously it’s easy to make headlines and be tough on it. But you know, I think if you look at his overall performance, he’s very fast. It brings good feedback, good information and a good strategy for everything. So I hope for him that he will have a little more luck, because I don’t think he lacks rhythm, it’s just chances that have not been on his side. It must be nice to live in any case to have a double world champion of the caliber of Alonso as bodyguard and press officer. The power of money, certainly…
