Staying at least one step ahead of your rivals in Formula 1 is what teams aim to do. But when your rival knows more about your challenger than you do, you’ve got a problem. A radio message given to Lewis Hamilton regarding Fernando Alonso’s AMR23 had Aston Martin engineers second-guessing themselves. Alonso and Hamilton fought for P2 at the Canadian GP throughout the race, but a problem arose in Alonso’s car sometime during the fight.

While Aston wasn’t too concerned about it becoming a critical issue, what Hamilton’s engineers relayed to him regarding the issue as he was closing in on the Spaniard had Aston Martin boss Mike Krack thinking that Mercedes knew more about their car than they do themselves. But what made him think that?

Lewis Hamilton was told Alonso had brake problems

During the tussle between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, Alonso’s engineer asked him to lift and coast. This meant that, while braking for a corner, he had to lift off the throttle earlier than usual—letting the drag reduce his speed—and coast the car into the corner. This driving method uses less fuel since the time spent on the throttle reduces. Although Alonso wasn’t told the reason, the team thought they had a problem with the fuel system.

When Mercedes realized Alonso was lifting and coasting, Hamilton’s engineers told him it was because of a brake problem. That had Aston engineers questioning themselves. In a post-race interview, Krack was asked about this, and he said, as quoted by Crash.net, “I think Lewis [Hamilton] was told we had a brake problem, and we looked at each other and said ‘oh, they know more about our car than we do, maybe we should speak to Mercedes’ engineers.” Due to Alonso’s lifting and coasting, Hamilton caught up to him, but as soon as he got within one-and-a-half seconds of Alonso, the dirty air didn’t let him any closer, and Alonso pulled away.

Aston wasn’t sure about the fuel problem itself. So it decided to take precautions and ask Alonso to lift and coast anyway. Aston has had its fair share of fuel problems in the past, with Sebastian Vettel getting disqualified from the 2021 Hungarian GP after finishing P2 due to not having enough fuel in his car after the race. Aston really embraced the “better be safe than sorry” saying.

Read More: Lewis Hamilton Dubbed to Be Not on the Same Level as Max Verstappen After Fernando Alonso’s Brilliance Exposes Naive Excuses

Mercedes’ radio message made the Aston Martin personnel panic a little, but it all worked out in the end, with Alonso finishing in P2 ahead of Hamilton. The second place helped Aston close the gap to Mercedes in the championship, and while the Brackley outfit is its main competitor right now, it’s working toward fighting Red Bull soon.

Fernando Alonso & Co. are getting closer to Red Bull

After finishing just 9.5 seconds behind race-winner Max Verstappen, Aston Martin was the closest it has been to Red Bull all season. Although the Safety Car was partially the reason for the comparatively small gap, Red Bull was facing its own issues too. And this was the first time a crack in the Red Bull armor had come to light. While Red Bull struggled to warm its tires up, Aston Martin—with its new upgrades—was having a good race; Alonso was fighting Hamilton for P2.

The Silverstone team didn’t even get to understand its new upgrades properly in Canada due to the limited dry weather running over the course of the weekend. Even so, it did a good job and took a step toward catching Red Bull. The Silverstone team is set to bring new upgrades at the British GP, which it thinks will help close the gap even further. 

What did you think of Fernando’s lifting and coasting during the race? And do you think Aston Martin will close the gap to Red Bull entirely before the end of the season?

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