After being hit by Alexander Albon on the first lap of the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Fernando Alonso expressed his concern about the quality of drivers in the lower positions of the grid. Aston Martin track official Mike Krack indicated that the impact caused a considerable loss of aerodynamic load on the Asturian’s car.
In post-race statements, Alonso said: ‘When you start from the back, there is always this risk. I think the quality of drivers in the lower third of the grid is very low, as we could see today with Alex. Therefore, we need to improve the car and start a bit further up.’
Although this criticism was made in a moment of anger, Alonso reaffirmed his words during the press conference in Mexico City. He noted: ‘I don’t know if it’s a third of the grid, because later I saw some reports trying to identify eight or seven drivers. I’m not specific about the number, but I think we all know who they are and who felt affected by this comment.’
Alonso added that ‘this says it all’, and maintained his position regarding the incident. He insisted that Albon’s maneuver was unnecessary and that the racing environment needs to improve, especially among drivers fighting for less competitive positions.
Regarding the quality of driving in Formula 1, Alonso differentiated between standardization and driver skills: ‘I don’t think the standards have degenerated over the years. When you’re at the back of the grid, the cars are harder to drive and mistakes are more frequent.’
The Aston Martin driver also mentioned that many incidents and collisions during the first lap are unnecessary: ‘The crashes, the front wings flying off, all that doesn’t make sense, especially if you’re fighting for nothing at the back of the grid.’
Furthermore, he referred to the budget cap, indicating that if teams leveraged this while repairing damage every race, it also became a problem. His criticism is made more relevant considering that James Vowles, the team principal of Williams, has called for a reevaluation of the budget cap.
In conclusion, Alonso points out that the issue of driving standards fundamentally depends on the ethics of the drivers and their aspirations within the championship, rather than on the decisions of race stewards.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
