Meanwhile there was the matter of the now infamous countdown. The team wanted to get Fernando into clean air and have him complete his final lap as late as possible, with the maximum amount of rubber down on the track. The man responsible for relaying the countdown was not Hallam, but Mark Slade, who usually takes over some communication duties while in the pits.
In the course of Fernando's stop, Hamilton had pulled in behind him, and everyone in the team knew that whatever countdown Alonso might have benefited from, they still had to get Hamilton out as well. It was going to be tight, but there was time.
The countdown ended, and the lollipop came up. And that was the definitive signal for Fernando to leave - it has to be, for safety reasons, because it tells the driver that there are no cars coming down the pitlane. It makes no sense at all for the lollipop to go up, a countdown process carry on, and allow the driver to just head off.
So there is no question that the lollipop did mean 'go', and Alonso was indeed told by Slade to go. It was Alonso's decision to sit there.
