Aston Martin reveal misleading reason for Alonso’s lift and coast order

Alonso had repassed Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes in the battle for second place after initially losing out off the line but was instructed to “lift and coast” by his team in the closing stages of the race. 

That enabled Hamilton to catch Alonso, though after seeing the gap reduce down to around 1.5 seconds, the Spaniard was able to pull clear and seal second place on the rostrum behind Max Verstappen’s Red Bull. 

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack explained that the the team’s data was indicating a possible problem on Alonso’s car which "did not materialise in the end”. 

"We thought we had a problem with the fuel system,” Krack said. 

“But we were not sure. So as a precaution we said the best thing is to save some fuel and to do lift and coast.”

Krack added: “How much it costs us? It's difficult to judge. A few tenths, one or two per lap, maybe. 

"It was a precautionary thing. But you can choose between not finishing or arriving with a bit more [fuel], so we wanted to be safe.”

Alonso admitted after the race that he was unsure what the lift and coast order related to. 

“I don't really know,” he said. “They didn't tell me so maybe it was not to make me worry too much. But I don't know. 

“I felt the car was OK. But I was just following the instructions. So yeah, hopefully that means that we have a little bit more pace. So next one, putting more pressure on Max.”

Krack confirmed Alonso’s suspicion that he could have gone quicker towards the end. 

Mercedes appeared to misunderstand the nature of Alonso’s issue, with Hamilton being told his rival had a brake problem. 

“I think Lewis was told we had a brake problem and we looked at each other and said ‘oh, they know more about our car than we do, maybe we should speak to Mercedes’ engineers’,” Krack said.