Fernando Alonso taken aim at Formula 1 Management for broadcasting an "out of context" rant over team radio on the world TV feed during the Japanese Grand Prix. The team radio channels are open to the live broadcast and often feature drivers in heated discussions with engineers or retorting a penalty decision by the stewards. Max Verstappen's messages with engineer Gianpiero Lambiase have been the subject of scrutiny , and now Alonso has fallen under the spotlight after arguing with Aston Martin engineers over strategy during the race at Suzuka. Alonso was among the first to pit the leaders on on lap 11 after starting on Soft tyres for a set of Hards, which led to him dropping behind several cars on Mediums, eventually finishing in eighth place. This led to him remarking over the team radio: “You’ve thrown me to the lions by pitting me that early mate, unbelievable.” Alonso has a history of team radio comments being broadcast with perhaps the most infamous being when he described the Honda engine in the back of the McLaren in the 2015 Japanese GP as a "GP2 engine" in front of the top brass.
Krack: We use it as motivation
The Spaniard was not happy with the broadcaster's decision to air the message when speaking to media, including RacingNews365 : "I think it's the same, the classic FOM radio completely out of context," he said. "I'm not sure exactly what the drivers can say when they are behind a car that is slower, and on the straight, they are pulling away even when you open the DRS. "So I don't know exactly what the other drivers do, maybe they say; 'I'm okay, I'm happy to stay here and to stay behind', but I prefer to be motivated to overtake them on track. "I was slower even with the DRS open, so I called for a different strategy. We stopped, we beat them, so that's the way we do it. We beat everyone on track, even if the radio is the highlight." It was the second time Alonso was heard over team radio during the race criticising his team, after he said his car was "undrivable" during the Singapore GP. His car picked up suspension damage in the opening stages of the race, which made it difficult for him to drive around the tight circuit. Aston Martin Team Principal Mike Krack believes the messages are part of the adrenaline that drivers experience when behind the wheel and should not be read into too much. "You can listen to the 20 drivers and everybody's really hard on it, everybody's really passionate," said Krack. "If the driver would not be doing something like that, what driver is it? So it's fine. "For us, we take it as a motivation. It also opens up a different view of things, so absolutely fine."
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