F1 News: Alpine ignored Alonso's call to stop for inters early in Japan
Fernando Alonso's 2022 season has been defined by strong performances amidst frustrating results, with several factors preventing that Alpine driver from maximising his points tally.
Alpine's A522 has shown consistent pace throughout the year, but poor reliability and a series of costly operational mishaps have frustrated both drivers in this campaign.
In the chaos and uncertainty of Suzuka, the wet conditions provided the Spaniard with an opportunity to take risks and bring home a significant points haul.
The German outlet AMuS has provided insight into Alonso's team radio in Japan, which paints the picture of an exceedingly frustrating race for the Double World Champion.
Alonso communicated on team radio that he wanted to stop immediately after the restart, confident that the intermediate tyres would have the pace advantage. This request was ignored.
This instinct was proven correct within minutes, following Sebastian Vettel and Nicholas Latifi's impressive laptimes after diving directly into the pits for intermediates.
Alonso was instead left out on track for longer than most of the field, forced to maximise the wet tyres when the timing sheets demonstrated they were the wrong compound.
A similar sequence of events followed later in the race, with the 41-year-old asking the team to stop for intermediates before he was eventually called in.
Despite promising levels of performance in the slippy conditions, the Alpine driver almost certainly left Suzuka International wondering what could have been.
He missed out on the fastest lap point by just one-thousandth of a second before falling short of P6 to historic rival Sebastian Vettel in similar circumstances.
The Spaniard will hope for better fortune in the final races of the season, though he will almost certainly face an engine penalty before the finale in Abu Dhabi.
Regardless, Alonso will hope that Aston Martin can provide him with the machinery to be competitive next season.