Alonso rebukes media over Monaco pit call: Then we would only talk about Red Bull

Fernando Alonso believes Aston Martin made the correct call to put him on slick tyres as the rain came down midway through the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Spaniard initially went onto the Medium tyres, before having to pit again the following lap due to the slippery conditions.

Data from the race shows that if Aston Martin made the gamble to switch immediately to the Intermediate tyre, Alonso could have emerged with the lead of the race.

But he has defended the decision of the team amid criticism, given how tricky it was to judge the call in the changeable conditions.

"It was the right decision. Maybe they (critics) have a crystal ball and know the conditions, who stops, who doesn't stop, then finally when it rains and when you need the Intermediates," he told media, including RacingNews365.com.

"What I don't like in F1 is that we see always the negatives and we all see everything very easy from the sofa.

"I tell you an example, if we stopped for Intermediates, this week we will only talk about the wrong decision of Red Bull stopping one lap too late to Max.

"We would never talk about how Aston Martin was very brave and chose the right tyre. This is just the mentality of F1 and the unlimited search for perfection, which is not possible to reach sometimes."

Alonso: Wrong strategy gave us P2

Alonso believes the team's cautious approach to the race is what ultimately enabled them to finish on the podium.

He explained: "If you put [yourself] in our shoes and there was half of the track dry half the track starting to get wet and we have a free stop with everyone behind us with dry tyres, if we have to stop for dry tyres and then eventually we have to stop for wet tyres, then everyone stops for wet tyre and we keep just the position."

"If we stop for Inters and then it doesn't rain, then everyone behind stops for dry tyres and we need to stop for dry tyres, we will fall [down] to seventh.

"So if we take the wrong decision, we'll finish P2 in Monaco. Now if we look the race on TV again, would we stop for Inters? 100% yes. But in that moment, why Max didn't stop for Inters as well, he kept one lap longer than me but with a different tyre.

"I think that the biggest thing is that every race, we never put enough praise in what the teams do in very stressful moments. We always spot one thing that they do wrong," he concludes.

After Lance Stroll crashed out and both Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished inside the top five, Mercedes managed to close the gap to Aston Martin in the Constructors' Championship.

The teams are now only separated by a single point heading into the Spanish Grand Prix.