F1 news: Max Verstappen trick, Lewis Hamilton frustration, Fernando Alonso warning
F1 NEWS today centres around the fallout from the Australian Grand Prix including a Max Verstappen “trick”, Lewis Hamilton wishing his computer had less to do with the race and Fernando Alonso insisting he is ready to challenge the top teams again.
Fernando Alonso thought Max Verstappen was trying to play a trick on him during the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday when he waved him through.
Verstappen appeared to have overtaken Alonso during the virtual safety car period in a legal manner, taking the home straight at the required speed but reaching Turn One before the Spaniard who was exiting the pits.
The Dutch driver continued ahead of Alonso until his team realised that the McLaren had in fact left the pits marginally ahead of Verstappen.
Red Bull contacted race director Charlie Whiting to check what they could do to avoid an illegal overtake penalty, and while the race was still neutralised under the VSC, it was agreed that Verstappen should allow Alonso back through.
But when the two-time world champion saw the Dutchman frantically waving him through, Alonso was not sure who to trust.
“I saw that Max waved and wanted to let me pass,” Alonso said.
“But I thought that was maybe a trick and did not want to drive by.
“I wanted it confirmed three times that I’m really allowed to drive by.
“Max is especially very aggressive in overtaking manoeuvres.
“With his little tricks, it is better to get a confirmation.”
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Rosberg: Hamilton deserved to win Australian Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton has bemoaned the dominance of data over his choices on the race track after a computer glitch cost him victory at the Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton led from pole but when the virtual safety car came out after his pit stop, he was surprised to see Sebastian Vettel emerge from the pits in front of him.
Mercedes and their driver had both been led to believe that Vettel was not far enough ahead to make such an overcut work, even with a VSC.
However, a bug in the computer system appears to have been the cause of their miscalculation and left Hamilton longing for a simpler time.
"I mean it's such a team effort but when you're relying on so much computers, so much data, so much technology to come up with the strategy or whatever it may be, I wish it was more in my hands because I feel I was driving as good as ever today,” Hamilton said.
"I was really, really happy with how I was driving.
“Anyways, I will take that onto the next race, apply it exactly the same as I have this weekend and try to grow, try to grow within myself."
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Fernando Alonso is confident that McLaren’s days in the wilderness are over after he finished fifth at the Australian Grand Prix.
The result equals the two-time world champion’s best-ever result since rejoining the team at the beginning of the 2015 season.
McLaren are hoping their switch from Honda to Renault engines will power them to a renaissance and their star driver believes the only way is up.
“We made no mistakes and we capitalised on everything. A perfect job from the team,” Alonso said.
“We should be proud of that, but I think there’s a lot more to come from McLaren. We didn’t maximise the full potential nor squeeze everything out of the package today.
“This is only our first race together with Renault, and some updates will come in the next few races. We can start to look ahead a little bit and Red Bull will be the next target.
“As I said before, this race is probably our lowest performance of this season as things are going to get better and better.”