Fernando Alonso walks off Sky Sports during interview and gives Button grin

Fernando Alonso appeared to walk away from a Sky Sports F1 interview as Jenson Button pushed him on Aston Martin’s strategy calls. The British manufacturer opted to pit Alonso for dry tyres despite the rain already falling in sector two. 

But, the decision backfired as the weather worsened and the Spaniard was forced into a second stop just a lap later. Button asked Alonso why he didn’t stay out for one or two extra laps before his first stop. 

He queried: “Why did you decide to stop on that lap and not wait.” Alonso gave Button a cheeky grin and handed the microphone back to a producer before walking away.

Sky Sports host Simon Lazenby added: “We will pick this up in Barcelona. He’s got to go.” Just beforehand, Alonso had tried to defend the team’s decision despite the move potentially costing him a shot at beating Max Verstappen. 

He said: “It wasn’t an easy race, especially when the rain came. It was very difficult to get temperature into the intermediates. Turn five and seven were very risky. We tried to be aggressive on the strategy by choosing the opposite tyre to Max at the start but he was just too fast for us today and deserved the victory. 

“When I stopped, it was just raining in turns five and seven. The rest of the track was completely dry. If you are in P2 and put intermediates on for only two corners, maybe Jenson could guess that good!

“The forecast we had was just a small shower and a few drops of rain. We didn’t expect that amount of rain.”

Before speaking to Alonso, Button had admitted he was confused by Alonso’s strategy. The Spaniard would have likely passed Verstappen if his team opted for intermediates the first time round. 

Verstappen even made a mistake moments before heading into the pits, losing control of his car on the run into Portier and clipping the wall. 

Button explained: “A little bit surprised by Fernando’s pit stop – yes maybe they didn’t want the inter tyre yet, I’m just surprised he made the pit stop in those conditions. You’re not sure if it’s going to be wet or dry so normally you’d wait. But still, P2.”