Double F1 world champion and former rival of Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso returned to the press on the incident between the Briton and Max Verstappen during the Italian Grand Prix. In the eyes of the Spaniard, this is just a simple racing incident.
The star wars continue in F1. And a new twist appears at each Grand Prix in the fight at daggers drawn for the title of world champion. If, apart from the 2016 season, Lewis Hamilton has dominated the championship for seven years, the Briton is more than ever threatened by Max Verstappen. At the wheel of his Red Bull Racing, the Dutchman is at the top of the drivers’ standings but with a margin of only five points over his rival with eight races still to go this season. The Italian Grand Prix, contested last weekend at Monza, was a new turning point in this fierce fight with the clash between the two title contenders, Max Verstappen’s RB16 riding Lewis Hamilton’s W12 at the first corner. of the 26th round. An accident which caused the abandonment of the two pilots. If the current championship leader defended himself by advancing that he did not have enough space to pass inside the turn, the FIA commissioners sanctioned him with a decline of three places on the starting grid for the next Grand Prix, on September 26 in Sochi.
Another hugely dramatic moment in the Verstappen/Hamilton title battle 💥😮#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 # F1 pic.twitter.com/P4J4bN6wX2
– Formula 1 (@ F1) September 12, 2021
An unfortunate positioning according to Alonso
A decision which, for Fernando Alonso, is incomprehensible. Lewis Hamilton’s former teammate and rival at McLaren during the 2007 season, The Spaniard judges that this collision is just a simple racing incident for which the Dutch driver should not be penalized. “There they are, the two champions, they always fight to the limit and, to be honest, I saw the incident after the race, on video. It looks like an unfortunate positioning between the curve and the vibrators, declared the Alpine pilot. The car jumps a bit, then they touch each other wheel to wheel and that’s what makes a car fly. But it’s at low speed, you know, they’re going 30 or 40 km / h, there’s no speed hazard, there’s nothing. »
BREAKING: Max Verstappen has been handed a 3-place grid penalty at the #RussianGP for causing a collision in Sunday’s race at Monza #ItalianGP 🇮🇹 # F1 pic.twitter.com/A3aCvYd7hg
– Formula 1 (@ F1) September 12, 2021
Alonso: “It is the consequence which has been judged”
The former double world champion made the comparison with the collision between the two drivers during the British Grand Prix which, according to him, is different because the speed of the two cars was not the same. “I don’t think it’s a big deal. At Silverstone it was probably another story but this was just a racing incident in my opinion, said Fernando Alonso. I think Lewis Hamilton tried to open at Turn 1 to force Max Verstappen to give way. He did not do it. He stayed on the outside, but then it was not possible to pass Turn 2 on the inside. For the Spanish driver, the Red Bull Racing team and Max Verstappen have therefore been unfairly penalized. “What they did is not very different from the five or six incidents we saw at the start,” adds the Asturian. So I don’t understand why there is a penalty. This is the consequence that has been judged. A personal judgment but which is always against Lewis Hamilton, with whom the animosity is always present.
