In a brief span of a couple laps, Fernando Alonso committed more mistakes than he had all of the 2012 Formula 1 season. It started by shoving Sebastian Vettel which led to a severely damaged front wing. The wing was completely diagonal compared to its usual horizontal position. The wounded wing shot sparks out as it made contact with the quickly drying tarmac. Common sense would say pit and change the wing. This situation was not common sense at all. The fact of the matter was the track was drying and it was only a matter of laps before the front runners wound tempt fate and switch to slick tires. Unfortunately for Alonso and Ferrari, the damaged wing would give out; sending the whole wing up and under the car. There it was, in a championship measured by single points, Alonso would take away zero while title rival Vettel would take the full 25. Disappointing doesn’t even get close to describing it.
At the end of the day it was a team decision according to Stefano Domenicali. Ferrari tried to double down, and they busted. The strategy was to see if the wing would hold on until Alonso made his stop for dry tires. Remember that the race had started on intermediates but the track was drying rapidly as the cars started the grand prix. A decision needed to be made and soon. The question is why? Why during the second race of the season would you try and make this work? The wing was in terrible shape and everybody could tell it wasn’t going to be long before it finally gave way. The broadcasting crew on Sky Sports F1 couldn’t believe what they were seeing as Alonso shot by the pits versus entering them and repairing his damage. You would think Ferrari would play the “rather safe than sorry” card, but they gambled and lost BIG. It is incidents like this that continue to cost Ferrari and Alonso in the title race. These are the same kinds of silly calls and mistakes Ferrari made in 2008 that seen Felipe Massa lose the title by a point. Domenicali mentioned that some people involved in the decision making process couldn’t see the broadcast feed with what was a dire situation unfolding at the front of the F138. Are you serious? I won’t tell Ferrari how to run their race team as they are the best in the business, but when will the Scuderia take a step back and realize their greedy moves are hampering their team and drivers to secure championships? Domenicali expects championships this season, but he and his team have made a statement early that they are in more of a full tilt mode versus playing the game smart.
