The safety car eventually came as a boon for McLaren’s Fernando Alonso in the 2018 Formula 1 British Grand Prix, giving him a free stop and a chance to fight against the midfield rivals to score handily.
The Spaniard avoided the first-lap chaos to put himself in a good position against the midfield rivals after the opening lap. He was already into the Top 10 by Lap 26 while fighting with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.
With retirements of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen along with Haas’ Romain Grosjean and Renault’s Carlos Sainz, the fight between Alonso and Magnussen quickly turned for eighth position.
Alonso couldn’t get Magnussen on the first safety car re-start, but the two-time champion was able to get pass the Dane on the second re-start. However, Magnussen fought back to retake the position until Lap 51.
Alonso did get through Magnussen eventually but wasn’t very pleased on the radio with the antics of the Dane while defending his position. “What Magnussen does when you try to overtake [him], he push you off the track,” he said.
His engineer then pushed him to retake the place later in the race, but Alonso felt they would crash and the FIA will only penalise him after the race when the it is over. “We will both crash [if I continue fighting like this] and I don’t want or either wish [for it].
“From what I see from Magnussen, I never saw in my life. He pushed me wide in Turn 7, in Turn 11 and Turn 12. Anything with Magnussen, [the stewards should decide quickly] because [right now] it will be decided after the race.
“[And] the decision [will not affect as] the race situation changes now. In Turn 7, it was quite clear, I had to go on the grass, it is ridiculous…the FIA, ridiculous.” The incident was never put under investigation by the stewards in the end.
On Magnussen and Haas’ part, it was simply hard racing as it has been all-through especially with the Dane, who has come under a scanner on numerous occasions for his driving when attacking and or defending.
After the race, Alonso rued missing on an easy sixth as he felt the late tyre change helped them to fight off his rivals who didn’t stop. Few more laps, he would have chased down Force India’s Esteban Ocon and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg for sixth.
“It was a great race, a great show,” he said. “With a couple of safety cars, that always mix things and we decided to change tyres and we clearly had an advantage at the end of the race.
“We were with the new yellow tyres and the others had the white or even the blue tyre with Nico, so I think we could have fought for sixth but at the end, we got stuck in traffic [presumably Magnussen].
“But then eighth [place] is the maximum, so great result on Sunday again and more points for the team. Hopefully, we see more points for the team in the next couple of races by our own performance and not safety car or anything like that.”
Even with the four points, McLaren still lost out to Force India in the constructors’ standings as the Indian outfit’s double points finish helped them to move to 49 while McLaren sits with 48 in their kitty. Haas is only three points ahead with 51.
