Alonso takes aim at “classic FOM” for “out of context” radio messages

Alonso finished a lacklustre eighth at Suzuka as Aston Martin continue to struggle to replicate their early season heroics. 

The Spaniard seemed frustrated over team radio, venting to his team after his first pit stop.

He said: “You’ve thrown me to the lions by pitting me that early mate, unbelievable.”

He followed it up later in the race during his battle with Esteban Ocon by saying: “He’s pulling away on the straight, so think of something!”

Speaking after the race in Japan, Alonso explained why the aforementioned sound bites were “completely out of context”. 

“It’s the same, the classic thing, the classic FOM radio, completely out of context,” Alonso said.

“I’m not sure exactly what other drivers can say when they are behind a car that is slower and on the straight they are pulling away even when you open the DRS.

“Maybe the other drivers say ‘I’m okay, I’m happy to be behind’, but I prefer to be motivated to overtake them on track, I was slower even with DRS open, I called for a different strategy, we stopped, we beat them, that’s the way we do it, we beat everyone on track even if the radio is the highlight.”

Despite only finishing eighth, Alonso was pleased with Aston Martin’s race pace.

“I think the positive is that the pace of the car was surprisingly good,” he added. “I didn’t expect to be as fast as Ferrari and Mercedes to be honest.

“I think with a more optimised strategy maybe we could have finished sixth or seventh, and he didn’t look that way yesterday after qualifying. So the Sunday was very strong for us and we need to understand why.”