‘Quality of drivers very low’ – Alonso criticises Albon after clash

Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso hit out at Williams’ Alex Albon and stated the quality of drivers in the bottom third of the grid is “very low” after the pair collided at the United States Grand Prix.

Albon tried to overtake Alonso for 12th place into the Turn 11 hairpin on the opening lap, but went into the side of the Aston Martin driver, damaging both cars.

Neither driver received a penalty and both were able to continue with Alonso finishing 16th and Albon in 17th in Austin.

“Albon forgot Turn 11 was there and he had to turn left,” said Alonso.

“We need to get better and start a little bit higher up because the bottom third of the grid, the quality of the drivers is very low at the moment.”

Alonso qualified 12th, his joint-best Saturday result of the season, and thinks points were on the cards if not for the damage, which cost him around half a second per lap.

“It was the best race by far of the year for us in terms of competitiveness. Good tyre management. We got a lot of damage on Lap 1 with the Albon incident,” he said.

“Despite that, the car was still competitive. We had a P9 or P10 on merit. The best and strongest race of the year but ruined in the first lap with the Turn 11 incident.”

Albon felt he did not need need to apologise for the collision with Alonso as Esteban Ocon was on the outside of the Spaniard and also played a role in the incident.

“It’s racing. I think there was a car on his outside that squeezed [him]. I was side by side with him the whole way into the corner. It’s hard to disappear,” said the Williams driver.

“I thought we had some good racing. We had a second go at it later in the race. I enjoyed it at least. I hope he feels the same way on the second half. It was good fun.”

Formula 1 next heads south for the second leg of The Americas triple header with the Mexico City Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime