Alpine Boss Slags Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon After an Embarrassing Incident: “Both Drivers Have Let the Team Down”

Well, after the way the Brazil Sprint race turned out, Alpine is not in a very celebratory mood, surely. The French team suffered from both its drivers coming together at Interlagos on multiple occasions. Their team principal, Otmar Szafnauer, expressed his thoughts on the incident post the sprint.

He mentioned how both Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon have both let the team down.

Ocon and Alonso started the sprint race at Interlagos P6 and P7, respectively. Post the end of the 24-lap affair, they finished 17th and 18th, after two squabbles on track. Team boss Szafnauer explained how it’s disappointing for Alpine when they are in a tough fight for 4th in the championship.

As per the Race, Szafnauer said, “We are extremely disappointed with today’s Sprint result, which has put us in a worse position on the grid for tomorrow’s main race. We are in a very tight and competitive championship fight for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship; an objective for which over 1,000 staff are tirelessly working and striving towards.”

“Frankly, both Esteban and Fernando must do a better job to complement the fantastic efforts of everyone in the team by avoiding on-track incidents and compromising the entire team’s performance. Today, both drivers have let the team down.”

“I expect more from them tomorrow where we must do everything we can to recover some points from the weekend for the Championship.”

Read More: “Been Like This All Year”: Salty Fernando Alonso Breaks Down THAT Moment With Alpine F1 Teammate Esteban Ocon At Brazilian GP

The first of the two incidents was on Lap 1 of the sprint race. As the Alpine duo approached Turn 4, Alonso hit Ocon’s sidepod which caused damage to the Frenchman’s car. The Spaniard then again got a slipstream down the pit straight. Although, as Ocon moved out of his way, Alonso lost his front wing. The Spaniard was awarded a post-race 5-second time penalty that saw him drop from P15 to P18.

What did Fernando Alonso say about colliding with his teammate?

Alonso was livid on the team radio after his second collision with Ocon as he lost his front wing and had to pit. He rejoined the track at the back of the pack.

The 2-time champion said, “I lost the Front wing, I think. Thanks to… Our Friend [referring to Ocon]” 

It was sarcastic on Alonso’s behalf who has experienced similar close calls with Esteban in 2022.

Post the race, when asked whether he will speak to Ocon about the coming together; he said, “No, not really – I don’t need to. One more race and it’s over, finally.” The former McLaren man will move to Aston Martin in 2023.

Alonso also referred to previous close-call incidents with Esteban in 2022. He mentioned, “I was very close to the wall in Jeddah, I think, close to the wall in Budapest, today in turn four. This is the way things are, sometimes it’s very competitive inside the team. Yeah, it’s one more race.”

The Alpine duo has been quite competitive ever since the 2nd race of the season in Saudi Arabia. Post that, the Spaniard was surprised by Ocon’s late maneuvers at the Hungarian GP, pushing him to the walls.

Watch This Story: Behind Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon’s infamous F1 beef

This ultra competitiveness arguably has lost them points in their fight with McLaren. What do you think, is Alonso leaving Alpine due to such incidents?