Alonso renews criticism of 'low-level' F1 after Hungary decision

Fernando Alonso has renewed his criticism of the broadcasting of certain F1 radio messages after the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Aston Martin brought a sizeable upgrade package to Budapest, with Alonso trying out the new parts in free practice 1, with team-mate Lance Stroll using the old-spec car for a back-to-back comparison. 

During the session, Alonso's engineer Chris Cronin asked if he had any feedback that could help further the understanding of the package, with Alonso responding: 'Ha, good luck.'

It is not the first time that Alonso has criticised F1's broadcasting of radio messages, with the two-time champion known for strong comments, including the infamous "GP2 engine" quip to Honda at the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix. 

At the 2023 Suzuka race, he complained that Aston had left him to be "fed to the lions" after a strategy call, with Alonso labelling the broadcast of that as "the classic theme, the classic FOM radio, completely out of context."

Reflecting on the Hungary message, Alonso was not pleased.

"[On Friday], we were playing a little bit with a few set-up options," he explained to media including RacingNews365.

"It’s not that I was unhappy or Lance was unhappy. I think they put some radio comments, and as usual, it was very low-level broadcasting."

Alonso's race undone by Aston call

As for his race, Alonso started seventh but fell back to 11th in the race as Aston Martin's lack of performance in hot-weather conditions continues.

His race was undone by a strategy call in the early stages, but Alonso felt it was easy to criticise the call with hindsight. 

"The strategy was not optimal, but obviously it is very easy to say that after the race," he said.

"The team felt it was a good call, but it was a big surprise when we stopped on lap seven because we talked about how our car is hard on its tyres normally. 

"So if you are stopping on lap seven, there are 63 laps to do with one medium and one hard, and it was a challenge from that point. 

"There was a high price to pay if you did one stint on one set of tyres, and they called me in on lap seven and I knew that the race was over."