A curious decision to put Fernando Alonso on a new pair of dry weather slick tyres when rain fell in the principality wrecked the Spaniard's prospects of winning the Monaco Grand Prix.
According to Sky Sports F1 pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz, Alonso made the decision unilaterally, and the team did not override him despite the fact that every other car had pitted for wet tyres up to that point.
The crew, according to Kravitz, assumed the rain was merely a fleeting shower and that Alonso would be on the proper rubber when the track dried.
However, the rain became harder, forcing Alonso to return to the pits on the next lap for intermediate rain tyres.When posing on the podium with winner Max Verstappen
and third-place finisher Esteban Ocon in front of the Monogasque royal family, Alonso beckoned the Red Bull team official onto the second rung and placed a foot on Verstappen's top step, maybe implying that's where he should have finished.
As light rain began to fall two-thirds of the way into the race, some teams decided to take a chance on intermediates before the track became wet enough to necessitate them.
Instead of waiting a few more laps to be sure, Alonso pitted his Aston Martin and his team put on a new set of dry-weather slick tyres.
The light rain soon turned heavy, pushing the 42-year-old back into the intermediate pits.