Chinese grand prix was a ‘crazy race’

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso described the Chinese Grand Prix as a ‘crazy race’ after battling to secure P7 for Aston Martin, while teammate Lance Stroll received a 10-second penalty for a collision with Daniel Ricciardo.

Alonso had a promising start, jumping into P2 on the opening lap, but the race quickly devolved into a series of safety car periods that disrupted his strategy. Forced to make an additional pit stop, Alonso almost lost control of his car in the final corner, adding another layer of drama.

“Yeah, definitely, [a] crazy race,” Alonso admitted, reflecting on the unexpected twists and turns.

“A lot of things happened for us in the race. We had a great start, P2 the first couple of laps, then a few Safety Cars that probably didn’t help our strategy and made us save the tyres a little bit and last until the end. We had to make another stop, so that was not ideal. At the end [I] nearly crashed, but then fastest lap and P7, so all in all I think a good weekend.”

Despite the challenges, Alonso managed to salvage a decent result, finishing seventh and securing the extra point for setting the fastest lap.

While Alonso ultimately salvaged points, his teammate Lance Stroll faced a different fate. After starting the race from P11, Stroll looked poised to potentially challenge for points, but his race took a turn for the worse following a collision with Daniel Ricciardo during a safety car restart.

When Alonso locked up on the approach to the hairpin, a concertina effect occurred where the drivers behind had to brake to avoid the car in front. Stroll, though, did not slow down in time and crashed into the back of Ricciardo’s RB, with the damage significant enough to put the Australian out of the race.

“I don’t understand it,” Stroll commented on the incident. “I think it was a concertina effect in the hairpin. Someone braked in front and then I think it was like everyone kind of braked. The car in front of me just stopped right in front of me, I had nowhere to go and, yeah, it was just one of those really weird racing incidents.”

The stewards deemed Stroll to be at fault and handed him a 10-second penalty for the incident. He expressed his disagreement with the decision, arguing that the collision was a result of the chain reaction triggered by the car in front.