Alonso's swipe at the back of the grid doesn't stand up on one lap-one tangle
Fernando Alonso called the lower third of the F1 grid "very low" quality after a lap-one clash with Alex Albon at the United States Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso has rated the drivers in the bottom third of the Formula 1 grid as "very low" quality after one first-lap tangle with Alexander Albon at the United States Grand Prix. That's a stretch. The stewards didn't even investigate the collision.
"I think the quality of the drivers in the lower third of the grid is very low, as we saw today with Alex," Alonso said, as reported by The Race. Asked by F1 TV for his view on the incident, he said: "Albon forgot that corner 11 was there and he had to turn left."
What happened at Turn 11
On lap one, Albon dived to the inside of Alonso at Turn 11, with Esteban Ocon's Haas on the Aston Martin's outside. Albon said the contact damaged his Williams's front wing, and it stripped the left-hand bargeboard from Alonso's car.
Alonso said the damage left him with "half a car" and was costing him "half a second or more" per lap. After a slow second stop to change his front wing, he finished a lapped 16th, four places lower than he started. He did pass Albon again late on.
A good race ruined, by his own account
Alonso reckons a much better result was there. "I think it was the best race of the year by far for us in terms of competitiveness," he told RaceFans. "So I think we today we could have had maybe a P9, P10 on merit."
To be fair, we believe him. The car kept going despite the damage, and Alonso himself said: "I don't know how we kept on going and how we were semi-competitive." That's a strong afternoon undone on the opening lap.
Albon tells it differently
The Race says Alonso's quotes were not put directly to Albon, but he gave his version of the clash. "It felt like there was a car on the right side of Fernando [Ocon] and he gave Fernando enough space as if he thought there was only one car on his inside but then I was on the inside of Fernando so then I think it pinched and I tried to get out of the way and get on the kerb but I didn't make all of it."
He told RaceFans he still needed to review it. As for their later fight, Albon said: "I thought that was quite fun, but maybe he doesn't agree, I'm sure."
Why the quality line was the wrong call
Three cars into one corner on lap one, with room left for two, is a squeeze. It isn't a verdict on the drivers around him, and one untouched incident is thin evidence against a third of the grid.
Alonso's own fix is the better answer. "I think when you start at the back there is this risk always," he said. "So I think we need to improve the car and start a little bit higher up." Start higher, and the problem goes away.
