Calmer Alonso clears Vettel over 'frustrating" qualifying block
Calmer Alonso clears Vettel over 'frustrating" qualifying block
Fernando Alonso has cleared fellow F1 champion Sebastian Vettel of any wrongdoing after understanding the true nature of their incident in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix.
Approaching the end of his second flying lap in Q2 in his Alpine, Alonso came across a slow Sebastian Vettel through turns nine and 10 and was forced to abort.
Alonso then pulled alongside Aston Martin driver Vettel on the start-finish straight and shook his fist furiously at the German.
Addressing the matter after being in receipt of all the information, Alonso said: "On the Seb [incident] itself. I don't think that it was his fault.
"When we are driving in turns nine and 10, you rely completely on your engineers and on the radio, and he didn't have a free track in front of him. He had a car one second in front of him, and he could not vanish, disappear.
"That's the way it is. The nature of the circuit and the way the people were slowing down in turns nine and 10, which are written in the notes of the grand prix that you cannot do it, is the biggest topic.
"I guess they will not penalise 10 or 12 cars, which is the only thing that can change our weekend. It's an unfortunate situation."
Alonso calls on FIA to "police" better
Alonso felt qualifying fourth or fifth was possible but will instead start a lowly 14th, a position he claims is "impossible to repair".
The 39-year-old, however, stands by his earlier remark the FIA should dish out "harsh" penalties for blocking.
"It is an unlucky moment of the weekend," added Alonso. "We will try to learn from here if we can. I'm sure the FIA will have to learn as well and police this a little better.
"In the top category of motorsport, you cannot see in turns nine and 10, 10 cars waiting to start their lap at five kph. That has to be managed a bit better.
"And [also] be harsh with penalties. This is a consequence of being too soft on penalties. In practice on Friday I couldn't make any lap with [Kimi] Raikkonen in the last corner and one of the AlphaTauris. Nothing happened.
"So even in practice we see this problem and there is no policeman on this, so that's sad."
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Vettel announces F1 return as FIA single Mercedes out for Miami checks - GPFans F1 Recap
- 26 minutes ago
F1 team announce SHOCK signing weeks after rival departure
- 1 hour ago
Former team boss quizzed on role in Newey's Red Bull exit
- 2 hours ago
RB reveal STRIKING new livery ahead of Miami GP
- 3 hours ago
EXCLUSIVE: Insider claims F1 Academy and W Series couldn't co-exist
- Yesterday 19:57
Wolff delivers big verdict on Hamilton behaviour
- Yesterday 18:57
Related news
Norris reveals CHEEKY Alonso text after Austrian Grand Prix chaos
Newey reveals Red Bull could not stop Verstappen from taking POINTLESS risk
Russell insists Hamilton is still STRUGGLING with W14
How Austria track limits SHAMBLES shows FIA's flaws
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860