After three red flags, the Spaniard finishes third for the third consecutive time this year
Bullets fly around and, if one hits him, he survives, but he always continues up there, on the podium, one more race, and another, and another, and that’s three. Fernando Alonso, third for the third time this year. Fernando Alonso, always among the best. Everything happened at the Albert Park circuit, three red flags, two crazy starts and despite this Alonso got back on the box.
behind the winner max verstappen could be second, because it threatened lewis hamilton for almost the entire test. In front of Carlos Sainz, he could have stayed out, as his compatriot rammed him in the second start. But in the end Alonso returned to a position that is his this season, also third in the World Cup. Perhaps with regularity as an argument he can threaten the Red Bull in the championship.
Because there will be few races like this for misfortune, to suffer some misfortune, to lament, and nothing, happiness, another podium. There was a mess at the start, practically nothing happened for an hour and, at the end, absolute chaos: a two-lap race.
When everything already seemed decided, with Max Verstappen leading first, Lewis Hamilton second, Fernando Alonso third and Carlos Sainz fourth, Kevin Magnussen He rammed his car against a wall, destroyed one of its rear wheels and the remains of the tire forced those responsible for the International Automobile Federation (FIA) to show the second of the three red flags of the race. Everyone to the boxes, everyone to prepare. Suddenly, from tranquility to schizophrenia.
Sainz’s outrage
“It’s a stupid rule, you can’t get a red flag with two laps to go,” Alonso yelled into his radio after the restart. In it, the Spaniard tried to attack Hamilton, he ended up on the outside and Sainz appeared on the inside who took him ahead. A more or less clean touch, which did not destroy his Aston Martin, but which took Alonso off the track. He was out of the points, a catastrophe. The luck of him? That around him he was historical. Crashes and more crashes, touches and more touches, pieces and more pieces flying everywhere.
The accident between the two Alpine, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasley, both against the wall, forced the FIA to immediately show a third red flag and that saved Alonso. The return to the grid of all the pilots returned him to third place and thus they all marched, in single file, behind the ‘safety car’, until the checkered flag. The calamity was for Sainz who, for that incident, received a five-second penalty and fell from fourth to twelfth place, that is, out of the points.
the first red flag
Actually, the second destruction of Sainz’s career. Because in the first few laps he already suffered from Ferrarri’s bad strategy, although he was able to fix it then. At the start of the test, an excellent reaction and the accident of his partner, charles leclercplaced the Spaniard in a privileged position, but shortly after he found himself out of the Top 10. Initially, the two Mercedes, George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, stood ahead of Verstappen, Sainz took fourth and Alonso stayed in fifth position. A magnificent start for Madrid, which lasted too little.
An accident Alex Albón He made the ‘safety car’ appear and those responsible for Ferrari decided that Sainz would go through the pits. What happened right after? That the FIA determined the first red flag of the day and that visit to the garage was to his detriment. He had to go back and go back. From eleventh position, to fourth, while ahead Russell broke the engine and Verstappen, Hamilton and Alonso entrenched in their podium positions. Then the second red card would come, chaos, the touch between the two Spaniards and their antagonistic end: joy for Alonso and sadness for Sainz.
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