Fernando Alonso said Formula One is “very easy from the sofa” in response to allegations that Aston Martin might have won in Monaco last weekend.

Alonso claimed that using intermediate tyres rather than slicks during a pit stop may have “maybe” handed him the victory.

“What I don’t like about F1 is that we always see the negatives,” he continued.

“We never place enough value on the right things that teams do in high-stress situations.” We constantly single out one team that does something wrong and then punish them severely.”

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At the Monaco Grand Prix, the 41-year-old Spaniard finished second to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, his and his team’s best performance of the season.

According to race analysis, if Aston Martin had fitted intermediate tyres when Alonso came in for his first pit stop while rain was pouring on parts of the circuit, he would have finished ahead of Verstappen, who had to wait another lap to stop.

As it turned out, Alonso had to pit again a lap later because the rain increased as he exited the pits, making wet-weather tyres the obvious choice.

Alonso emphasized that his crew took “the right decision” given the circumstances at the time.

When asked if he could have beaten Verstappen, he replied, “Maybe – if you had the crystal ball and you know the conditions, you know who stops, who doesn’t stop, and then finally it rains and you need the inters, 100% you stop for inters.”

“What I don’t like about F1 is that we always see the negatives and we all see everything from the sofa.”

“Let me give you an example. If we stop for inters, we will solely talk about Red Bull’s bad decision to stop one lap too late this week.

“We would never say something like, ‘Aston Martin was very brave and chose the right tyre.'” We can only assume that Red Bull chose the wrong tyre and came to a halt one lap later.

“This is just the F1 mentality, the never-ending pursuit of perfection, which is sometimes impossible to achieve.”

In addition, he justified the decision he and Aston Martin made in real time in Monaco, claiming that when he arrived in the pits, the track was only partially wet and the team had no idea what the weather would do.

“Now, if we watch the race again on TV, we will absolutely stop for inters.” “That was a step up,” he remarked.

“But why didn’t Max stop for inters at that point?” He ran one lap faster than me, but on a different tyre.”

Alonso reiterated his point made after the race in Monaco on Sunday, saying Aston Martin had enough of a lead to secure second place even if they chose dry tyres but had to come in for wet tyres a lap later if the decision proved incorrect.

By contrast, he said, if they had fitted intermediate tyres at the first stop and then the rain stopped, as they predicted, they would have dropped to seventh place, behind a number of cars that had already changed for a new set of dry tyres 10 or more laps before the rain arrived.

“So,” he explained, “if we make the wrong decision, we’ll finish second in Monaco.” We took it.”