Ferrari drop Fernando Alonso jibe after Qatar GP incident with Charles Leclerc
Had it been Charles Leclerc almost taking out Fernando Alonso in Qatar, Fred Vasseur says the Aston Martin driver would’ve been on the radio to say his “life was on the edge”.
Racing for points in Sunday night’s Qatar Grand Prix, potentially even a podium finish, Alonso got it wrong at Turn 2 and went flying off into the gravel.
Working his way onto the escape road on the edge of the gravel, the Spaniard found his way back onto the track and did so with his foot flat, almost collecting Leclerc in the process.
Fernando Alonso rejoined the track in an unsafe manner
The Ferrari driver swept around the outside of returning Alonso, having to make just a small jink before continuing on his way without too much of a fuss.
Vasseur reckons if the tables had been turned, the same could not be said of Alonso.
“Had it been the opposite I think that Fernando would have been more than vocal on the radio that his life was on the edge and so and so,” he told the media on Sunday night.
“I think it was far too much coming from nowhere, that crossing the track up 90 degrees, but it’s not my decision.”
It was a decision for the race stewards who announced they’d investigate the incident after the race. They made the call not to penalise Alonso, instead handing him his first reprimand for the season for what they deemed was an unsafe return.
Leclerc went on to finish the grand prix in fifth place while Alonso was sixth.
Asked about the incident by Sky F1, the Aston Martin driver didn’t seem to think it was too big of a deal.
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“Obviously I made a mistake at Turn 2, went into the gravel, lost a position with George, lost a position with Charles,” he said.
Instead, he was just happy to see Aston Martin were back in the mix in Qatar with the double World Champion running as high as P3 in the early stages of the grand prix.
“We could have done it better in terms of positions at the end but on the positives, I felt more competitive this weekend than in the last few events,” he added.
“We were only ninth in Monza, no points in Singapore, ninth in Japan, and here we were in the mix so o hopefully in the future in the next couple of races we can be motivated.”
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