23 July 2023 , 11:35
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Fernando Alonso claimed a change in the Pirelli tyres used in Formula 1 was the reason behind Lewis Hamilton being able to out-qualify Max Verstappen for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Red Bull have had the most dominant car by some way this season. They won all 10 races leading up to Sunday's event and Verstappen was responsible for eight of those 10 victories.
He had also qualified on pole for each of the previous five Grands Prix. But that run came to an end in Budapest as Hamilton snatched it from his rival by just three-thousandths of a second.
Despite having been so dominant all season, the gap between Red Bull and their rivals seems to have shortened dramatically. At the same time, Aston Martin have lost some of the pace with which they began the year, while the likes of Mercedes and McLaren have made great leaps forward.
According to Alonso, speaking after that qualifying session, a slight change in the compounds of the tyres used may be behind that sudden power shift. "It is [not] a coincidence that when the new Pirelli tyres came in Silverstone there are a couple of teams that were struggling more, and a couple of teams that are very happy with the car now," said the Spaniard.
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"It's not only us, I think Red Bull has clearly been hit with those tyres. They've been one-two in every qualifying, one-two in every race, and now they are not even on pole position. Checo [Perez] is struggling to be in the top 10. At Silverstone I think Max was only three seconds in front of Lando [Norris]. So I see things a little bit abnormal since Silverstone."
Alonso doubled down on his theory in a second interview, in which he was critical of the change which appears to have hampered his team. The 41-year-old added: "These new Pirelli tyres, no-one is talking about it.
Hamilton out-qualified Verstappen in Budapest (Getty Images)"We've lost performance out of nowhere, Red Bull isn't dominating easily anymore, Max couldn't get pole, McLaren is suddenly faster and Alfa Romeo too. I don't like it when they change important things mid-season.
"I think you can feel the car a little bit different with the tyres. But as I said it is difficult to sometimes to be neutral. Obviously, we didn't improve the car much compared to the main competitors. We have every Thursday now the new parts for every team. So it's very easy now to see which teams are bringing more and more parts to the grand prix.
"But if I look back to Red Bull after being first and second, in every practice, qualifying and race and now I think this weekend in none of the practice, in Silverstone he was only three seconds in front of Lando. I think Red Bull lost performance since Silverstone, that's a fact."