Thread by @JunaidSamodien_

#AMuS Alpine fought back in a big way in the duel with McLaren for fourth place in the World Championship. Although Esteban Ocon finished fourth in Suzuka ahead of the two Mercedes, there was a lot of tension in the team. Fernando Alonso complained about the tactics.

Suzuka was a real liberation for Alpine after two clear rounds. McLaren's attack has been repulsed for the time being. Alpine left Japan with 18 points, McLaren with just one. The pendulum has recently swung from one extreme to the other.

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Before the Italian GP, ​​Alpine was 24 points ahead of McLaren. After Singapore, the British opponent suddenly led with four points in the lead. And just one race later, it's the other way around. Alpine is ahead with 143:130 points.

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It was a strong showing from the French racing team. In one lap, the Alpine even flew away from the Mercedes. That would normally have reversed on Sunday due to less tire wear on the Mercedes, but Lewis Hamilton couldn't get past Esteban Ocon for 28 laps and Fernando Alonso....

[...] pushed George Russell from 7th place on fresher tires on the last lap even more points than the defending Constructors' Championship champion. The sixth floor upgrade this year had a real impact in Suzuka and brought the promised two tenths.

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The Japanese rollercoaster, with its many fast corners, showed the progress on the ground better than the Singapore City Grand Prix, where the upgrade debuted. In the first sector with the famous S-bends, one Alpine rider was in the top 5 in both the race and practice.

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The last modification under the car brought more downforce that didn't come at the expense of drag. Ocon had enough top speed to fend off all of Hamilton's attacks. The aerodynamicists will already deliver the next development step at the GP USA in two weeks.

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"The floor has become our gold mine. We always find new things that give us time," praises Operations Manager Alan Permane.

In fact, it would have been a perfect day for Alpine if Fernando Alonso hadn't felt there was so much more in store for him.

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From his perspective, the race was a missed opportunity. He had the same nose as Sebastian Vettel and wanted to switch to intermediates right after the restart. The command bridge refused. The strategists had a plan they were stubbornly sticking to.

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Imagine if Alonso had pitted like Vettel and Latifi on the fifth lap. He was 18 seconds ahead of Vettel at the time. Four laps later, when everyone had completed their pit stops, Vettel was 16.2 seconds behind leader Max Verstappen. In other words: Alonso would have led.

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He wouldn't have been able to keep the eventual winner, but Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez would have bitten their teeth at Alonso's excellent top speed. Alonso's frustration ride continued. He also wanted to pit a lap earlier for the second tire change.

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That didn't go down well with Alpine's tactical pool either. According to the strategists, it would have thrown Alonso too far behind Lando Norris. After the stop on lap 22, he was able to use the element of surprise and the dewy intermediates to leave the McLaren right behind.

In the final, Alonso was by far the fastest man in the field. He even caught up with Verstappen. Twelve seconds in six laps. With six laps to go, sixth-placed Vettel was still 20 seconds away.

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There was a photo finish between the two veterans at the finish line. Vettel beat Alonso by 0.011 seconds. Not even the fastest lap went to the man in Alpine dress.

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In contrast to Guanyu Zhou, the ex-champion had to overtake cars again and again and missed the bonus point by a thousandth of a second. It just wasn't his day.

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In the end, Alpine also felt cheated by one lap. It was argued that Verstappen crossed the finish line before the three-hour limit expired and should therefore have done another lap. In fact, the Dutchman crossed the line 4.5 seconds after the time limit.

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If the race is stopped because the three hours of the event have been exceeded, then it is a hard break. The Grand Prix ends with the next crossing of the finish line.

STORY IN GERMAN HERE auto-motor-und-sport.de/formel-1/alpin…