Fernando Alonso, Alpine’s team principal apologizes

Alan Permane’s words.

Alpine team principal Alan Permane apologized to Fernando Alonso after what happened at Suzuka.

“We probably should have called him back a little earlier, although it’s not easy to predict, because his tires were also wearing out at the end of the stint. If the race had gone as we thought, he would have caught up with Vettel. We talked to Fernando, and he asked if we should go back in. He would have had to overtake five cars, so we thought it would not be good to do that. In hindsight, yes, it would have been better to do it, but it is not easy to realize how easy it would have been to complete overtaking in such difficult conditions. When we then saw Zhou stop and turn faster than 5 seconds a lap, at that point we let him back in. We will have to study what happened,” he concluded, “but it is clear to me that if the race had lasted one more lap, as it should have, he would have finished ahead of Sebastian.