Fernando Alonso Reveals the Trick to Driving in the Rain: It’s Not the Conditions, It’s Knowing How to Read Them

Fernando Alonso achieved the best result of the entire season at Sepang. The Asturian driver finished eighth, fending off in the final laps the attacks of Lando Norris, the reigning world champion. A success that arrived in a rain-soaked race, and despite a strategic misstep that condemned him to run far back.

After the race, Alonso explained that even when he was running at the back he always kept the hope of obtaining a good result. And the two-time Spanish world champion believes that the key to this kind of race is not so much that luck favors you, but understanding what is happening and adjusting to it.

Alonso delivered the best race of the year in Sepang

“He’s the master of chaos.” This is how Oscar Piastri reacted over the radio when told that Fernando Alonso had finished eighth in Sepang. And he didn’t know that Aston Martin had misjudged the Spaniard’s initial strategy, which saw him running at the back and forced a comeback. Alonso explains what the key was.

Alonso insists that “I never lost hope. In these races there is always a Safety Car. When the track is tricky, some are on dry tires, others on intermediates, there will always be some incident, something will happen, and everything will regroup at some point during the race.” And that’s exactly what happened. Up to two safety cars regrouped the race.

Alonso was one of the drivers who started on dry tyres, in his case the medium compound. However, the track was still wet, so those who opted for intermediate tires came out on top. Alonso dropped to the rear, alongside Ferrari and McLaren, but he still maintained his bet on drys.

Alonso explains that in that stretch of the race “you had to stay there, try to be on the leader’s lap and wait for a Safety Car, which finally arrived. I think these are circumstances that help you or don’t help you if you manage to understand them and read them in the race.” He did it and earned as a reward an eighth place, the best result of the year.

Además, lo hizo luciéndose en las últimas curvas, reteniendo detrás a Lando Norris, el vigente campeón del mundo, con un McLaren ampliamente superior a su Aston Martin. Sobre ese duelo, Alonso narra que “yo tenía dos vueltas la batería a tope y la iba utilizando en las rectas. Creo que él se metió en un lío con Nico Hülkenberg y se acabó la batería”.

An eighth-place finish that arrived ahead of what should be the best circuit of the year for Aston Martin, the one in Singapore, this coming weekend.

Imágenes | Aston Martin