Did McLaren screw up?

Or was it an incredibly sophisticated and deliberate attempt by Alonso to block a faster teammate from defending his provisional Pole position ?
Either way, put aside the Ferrari vs. McLaren spy scandal shenanigans, and let’s return to the Alonso vs. Hamilton intra-team fight for the right to win the Formula One World Championship.
Over the last two weeks, Ron Dennis’ favored son Lewis Hamilton has seen his grip on the F1 driver’s title slip to a mere two points over Alonso. In Q3 of qualifying, McLaren seemed intent on putting Hamilton on Pole by having Alonso qualify on the ‘prime’ – soft – tire while Hamilton was turning his hot laps on the ‘option’ – super soft – tire with nearly three tenths in hand.
It should have been an easy Pole for Hamilton, but it didn’t happen.
Instead, two-time Formula One Driver Champion Fernando Alonso took his 17th career Formula One Pole during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring.

Immediately following the demise of the team’s planned orchestration of the front row, Ron Dennis slammed his headphones down, and stormed off to Parc Ferme to confront his Spanish driver. When challenged, Alonso refused to listen, and walked away from his McLaren Boss who continued to sputter at him.
But Dennis’ scapegoat wasn’t the real problem today. The facts don’t back him up.
Though o*nlookers were quick to trash Alonso, and ridicule him for deliberately holding up Hamilton…. The facts don’t back them up.
One has to look at the specific timelines to declare guilt. Much as o*ne has to hear all the evidence in a spy scandal case, rather than force an important decision with something less than all the important facts.
As mentioned above, it was clear that McLaren had chosen Hamilton to lead from Pole based o*n the two different strategies. It is also logical that Alonso was o*n a heavier fuel load than Hamilton since he is o*n the harder tire.
The truth is that Alonso was not going to be given a chance to start the Hungarian Grand Prix from Pole.
It can also be said that McLaren cost Alonso a lap of fuel. Was that intentional ? Was that what the team wanted to insure a Hamilton victory for tomorrow’s race ?
Let’s consider these questions while we look at the facts.
On Alonso’s second to last pitstop in the Q3 qualifying session, McLaren held Alonso for a full 47 seconds (From 7:40 to 6:53). Apparently to allow for traffic to clear, meanwhile Hamilton was allowed to burn fuel during the time that the Spaniard sat idle.
The team then bungled his release when a tire warmer became stuck o*n the suspension. The mistake cost Alonso another full eight seconds.
Alonso completed his out lap, his hot lap and then returned to the pits. The car was jacked up, and Alonso’s tread was replaced for his final run at Pole. At the 2:08 mark, Alonso was dropped off the jacks and ready to return to the track. But the team held him again…
This time for another 19 critical seconds…
Again apparently for clear track.
At the 1:51 mark, Hamilton arrived in full view behind Alonso.
At the 1:47 mark, the McLaren mechanic lifts the lolli-pop. Usually a sign that the team wants the driver to leave the pit stall.
What isn’t clear is if Alonso is actually released by the team. Unlike the previous stop, the mechanic in charge of releasing him can’t be seen counting down the release.
During this crucial nine seconds, some speculate that Alonso deliberately held his teammate to cost him Hamilton his run at Pole.
At the 1:38 second mark, Alonso drives away and finds clear track.
At the 1:26 second mark, Hamilton’s service is complete, and he is away for his doomed final lap.
But here is the key point to this presentation of the facts. And Ron Dennis should note this before he scolds his star driver because his favorite son isn’t o*n Pole.
Alonso began his lap with just three seconds left in the qualifying session. It took him 1:35 to get around the track from the time he left his pit stall.
Even if Alonso had gotten away when the loli-pop went up, Hamilton would have had just 1:35 to get around the track.
While the nine seconds was crucial… It was the McLaren team who kept Alonso for the extra 19 seconds before hand to create the situation. It was the McLaren team who kept Alonso a full 47 seconds the previous pitstop and allowed their drivers to get so close to each other.
The truth is o*ne of the following:
McLaren were too smart by half
Or Alonso is the smartest driver in the world, and had this all calculated out in the cockpit of his car.
Alonso said of the incident, "I leave the pits when I'm told to."
And that makes the most sense.
If Ron Dennis is angry and upset, he o*nly has his own team to whine at for wasting the precious seconds that left Hamilton second. If Ron Dennis is angry and upset, it clearly wasn’t his driver who created the situation.
If Ron Dennis is angry and upset that McLaren’s intended orchestration of the front row didn’t happen as planned, he o*nly has o*ne place to point the finger…
At his team. Not his driver.
Even so, the o*ne who ought to be furious is Fernando Alonso.
While Alonso will start from Pole o*n a track where it is extremely difficult to make a pass, the team cost him a full lap of fuel by forcing him to sit idle in his pit stall.
They wasted 55 seconds o*n the second to last stop, plus 19 seconds o*n his final stop, plus the nine questionable seconds. That works out to 1:23 or o*ne full lap.
Tomorrow, that lost lap could be very costly for Alonso. That is..
If McLaren allows him to win. Because if he does, he’ll overtake the team’s favored o*ne in the Formula o*ne points standings.
Will Ron Dennis allow that to happen ?