Alonso gamble backfires

[Dare]

Seems Ferrari are doing a lot of gambling with Ferd,2 for
2 this year,1 for 2 in working

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/8594435/Ferrari-Alonso-gamble-backfired

[Alonsofan]

Even though i understand fully the gamble, ie wet track drying, wanting to change to dry tyres at the same time as replacing the wing, but at that point in the race having held it so brilliantly ahead of Webber for the whole lap I think safety was the proper course of action. He still would have finished in the points.

A sad day

[Scott]

After the initial sparks I thought it almost seemed like the wing was out of danger (of falling off - it clearly needed to be changed soon).  I'm not sure I would have allowed him to go much longer, but I can see the reason for taking the gamble.  It's not just a safety issue - clearly anything could happen in any situation in an F1 car.  We don't know what happened in conversation between the team and Alonso.  Perhaps when the wing stopped rubbing the ground he reported that and the team decided to have a better look at it.  They were obviously ready to pull him in, since they had the new wing waiting, but with no more sparks and perhaps no more noise from Alonso's point of view, they would be better off assessing things rather than drop to the back of the field and a few laps too early to gamble with slicks.  Some gambles pay off, some don't. 

[Irisado]

That has happened to other drivers before, and the wing has not come off, so it was a fair enough gamble.  I still think that it would have been better to play it safe though.  Ferrari know that Alonso is going to be in the title hunt, so ensuring that he finished should have taken priority in my opinion.

[Williamsfan]

As was said during the commentary, Alonso usually plays the long game so I was surprised that Ferrari didn't call him in.  But yeah, I can see other sides to the discussion and perhaps the team thought it would be safe until the first scheduled stop.

[Scott]

I do however think that Alonso could have (should have) taken it easy down the long straights while they assessed things though.  If a wing is going to fail, it is certainly on a long, high speed straight.  He could have given a few positions for another lap instead of flooring it.  But hindsight is always so clear 

[Alonsofan]

If he needed to take it easy for the wing to survive he might as well have pitted for a new wing.
It was either do or die and he died ........ not literally though thank God

[Scott]

All part of the gamble.  If he had turned things down for another lap, the wing could very well have stayed on, while he might have only lost a handful of places.  Pitting lap one meant he was at the tail - no question.  Another lap after that and it was marginally ok for slicks.  You didn't know the wing would fail catastrophically, nor did I and apparently neither did anyone at Ferrari.  It could have broken off harmlessly as well.

[Alonsofan]

  Well actually i did know....because i was watching the highlights on BBC1 

[Alianora La Canta]

I would have pitted him. Even if that meant pitting him again 2-3 laps later. It wasn't just a safety/wing attachment issue; it's that the front wing is designed to give significant downforce, which would have made it that much more difficult to stay on the track, or do any kind of defensive manouever. Even if he'd made it round, the downforce situation would have required Fernando to drive slower and creep round the slower/tighter corners. He'd have to have avoided the bumpier parts of the circuit to avoid damaging the wing further too. So most likely he'd be at or near the back before he started pitting, simply due to pitting too late for his wing.

If that hadn't been true, then Fernando would have shown that the Ferrari's front wing is as cosmetic as the front wing on Jenson Button's 2007 Honda. He lost a front wing on lap 18 of Fuji 2007, but didn't pit for 3 laps. This turned out not to be strategic, but because Jenson hadn't noticed he'd lost the wing. It had been producing that little downforce...

[Cam]

I would have pitted him. Even if that meant pitting him again 2-3 laps later. It wasn't just a safety/wing attachment issue; it's that the front wing is designed to give significant downforce, which would have made it that much more difficult to stay on the track, or do any kind of defensive manouever. Even if he'd made it round, the downforce situation would have required Fernando to drive slower and creep round the slower/tighter corners. He'd have to have avoided the bumpier parts of the circuit to avoid damaging the wing further too. So most likely he'd be at or near the back before he started pitting, simply due to pitting too late for his wing.

But he wasn't falling back.  He was holding his own during that first lap and actually looking quite racy, I think this was what drew them into thinking he might be ok for a couple more laps.