Did Fernando Alonso make the right call with tire choice in the Hungarian Grand Prix?

In addition, Fernando Alonso’s pit stop cost nothing. He was second in the whole race and he was also second after the extra stop. But could he have reached the top spot if he switched to “intermediates” immediately?

Track conditions varied a lot, so we don’t know what times Alonso would have set in the exit lap, but it’s rather unlikely. Before the stop, Alonso lost about 13 seconds to Verstappen.

“When it started to rain in turns five, six and seven, I had hard tires that were quite old after 50 laps and it was difficult to get heat into them in that part of the circuit,” said Alonso, as quoted by RacingNews365.com.

“We were thinking about the stop and the question was whether to stop for medium tires or intermediate tires. I asked about the forecast and they said there would be a short shower but it shouldn’t be too heavy.’

“I said we’d stay on slicks because there were a few drops of rain between turns five, six and seven and it was dry everywhere else.”

Krack: I don’t think it would make a difference

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack said the team only expected a brief shower, saying that due to the track’s high temperature the raindrops would evaporate quickly.

“Honestly, we didn’t expect such heavy rain,” Krack said. “We thought it would just be a short shower and it would dry quickly because the track was very hot.”

“Normally you’d think, ‘okay, we’ll stay out for one, two or three more laps,’ but the tires were a lot worn and we could see the temperatures dropping, so it was a bit of a risk.”

“Then when the car came in, with the information we had, we thought we’d put medium on, but when the car came out shortly after, we saw it was raining a lot for the repair and we had to go back.”

“I don’t think it was a lost opportunity because if we had put the transients on, Max would have put them on as well and he had the lead. I don’t think it would make a difference.’