Alonso: Helping Stroll is what I did with ex-F1 teammates - "I had in the past"

When running behind Lewis Hamilton, Alonso gave teammate Stroll a brake balance suggestion over team radio.

“Tell Lance my brake balance suggestion as I am now. I think it’s a good help,” he said.

The Spaniard’s friendly suggestion came after Stroll told his engineer earlier in the race that he would not try and overtake Alonso, who was nursing his tyres behind the seven-time world champion.

“Fernando, I will not attack,” Stroll reported.

After the race, Alonso pointed out that giving advice to his teammate isn’t something new despite having fractious relationships with Hamilton and Esteban Ocon.

“I had in the past – but only some of my radio were broadcast. For whatever reason now F1 [broadcasting] is kind to me.”

At 41, Alonso is the oldest driver on the grid by some distance.

Given that his years in F1 are numbered, Alonso said that he’s keen to support his younger teammate as Stroll is likely to “lead the team for the next 10 or 15 years”.

“We talk a lot during the weekend, already from Thursday – what we both felt here in the past, in traffic what we will do, what will be the plan for each of the cars.

“If we feel something in the car during the race that we didn’t speak about and there’s something new that can help the other car, normally we communicate to the team.

“Yeah, it has been like this. I know that I will be in the sport for a few more years but not many, and he will lead the team for the next 10 or 15 years, so I hope I can help Lance in the next few years.”

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack was delighted to see his two drivers working together.

“It shows the maturity of Lance and Fernando, the way they work together, the way they also act with each other,” Krack said.

“They have clearly understood that our opponents are not the [other] green car, but others, and I think if we can manage to keep this harmony between the two, pushing each other but also helping each other where it matters, it will only benefit us in the long run.”