"We didn't expect that amount of rain...": Fernando Alonso after finishing second in Monaco GP
May 29, 2023
Monte Carlo [Monaco], May 29 : Fernando Alonso is having one of the best seasons so far in 2023. He took second place behind Max Verstappen in the Monaco GP to grab his fifth podium in the season.
After the rain started pouring in the streets of Monaco, Alonso pitted on Lap 55 for medium tyres. However, the weather turned worse and Alonso had to pit again in the next lap for intermediate tyres. This helped the race leader Max Verstappen to further his lead by 28 seconds.
As per Sky Sports, Alonso and his team didn't expect it to rain so much otherwise they would have gone for the intermediate tyres and would have avoided the second pit stop in the next lap.
"When I stopped, it was just raining in Turns Five and Seven. The rest of the track was completely dry," Alonso said as per Sky Sports.
"If you are in P2 and put intermediates on for only two corners, maybe Jenson (Button) could guess that good! The forecast we had was just a small shower and a few drops of rain. We didn't expect that amount of rain."
Alonso went on to point out that the track was dry which led to the decision of medium tyres. "For me, it was very clear that the track on that lap we stopped was completely dry apart from Turns Seven and Eight. So how I will put on the inters? It was completely dry 99 per cent of the track.
"So I stopped for dry tyres, the weather forecast was a small shower and a small quantity of rain as well what we had as a team, and we had a lot of margin behind us you know to put the dry tyres and if necessary, the inter tyres. So, you know, maybe it was extra safe, I don't know," Alonso said, according to Sky Sports.
"That minute and a half that it took to go through Turns Five, Six, Seven and Eight again it changed completely so the out lap on the dry tyres it was very wet when I got to those corners but the lap that we stopped, it was completely dry," he concluded.
Alonso currently stands in third position in the Drivers' championship with Red Bull's Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen in second and first place respectively.
