Fernando Alonso admits mistake but fails to give an apology to teammate Esteban Ocon after making contact at the Sao Paulo GP Sprint
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Esteban Ocon (L) Fernando Alonso (R)
Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon have been teammates for Alpine since 2021. The pair have provided the team with consistent results for the French team, delivering solid performances which have helped the team stay 4th in the constructors’ championship this year, ahead of the faster McLaren team. However, in the recent few instances, things seem to have heated up with the Brazilian Grand Prix’s Sprint race being the latest example.
Alonso and Ocon worked together for the Enstone team’s first victory since 2013 at the Hungarian Grand Prix last year, when Alonso’s remarkable defense against Lewis Hamilton, led to Ocon getting that first place. Alonso’s first podium in F1 since 2014 was also possible because of his teammate’s defense which Alonso had asked for on the team radio, “Tell Esteban to defend like a lion,” which came at the 2021 Qatar Grand Prix.
2022 has been different for the two Alpine drivers, the duo has come close to each other on more than one occasion, be it in Saudi Arabia or Hungary, escalating the tensions between them. Ocon recently called Alonso “an animal” on track for the Spaniard’s habit of going to the extreme while racing. The Sprint race at the Brazilian Grand Prix was also another instance where the two have gotten a tad too close together, something the team is not happy with.
Fernando Alonso does not even mention his teammate while accepting his mistake
During the Sprint race, the two Alpines came close together on two separate occasions, once on lap 1 which led to Alonso almost running off the track and the second on lap 4 which led to Alonso breaking his front wing. Alonso on his team radio blamed the incident on his teammate and said, “Just lost the front wing. Thanks to our friend.” Post-race however it was the Spaniard who received a five-second time penalty along with two penalty points added to his super license.
It seems that Fernando has finally come to terms with the incident being his fault as it was the 41-year-old who drove into the Frenchman. On Instagram, the Spaniard admitted his fault for the incident and said, “Not a great sprint race yesterday after making a mistake and losing the front wing.” The 41-year-old is looking forward to gaining places in today’s race while giving everything in the 71 laps. One thing however stands out from this post and that is the absence of an apology to Esteban. The Spaniard cleverly accepted his fault yet missed out on mentioning his teammate in the post, let alone asking for forgiveness from the Frenchman.
This can be read as classic Fernando Alonso, someone who does not bother to apologize to even his teammate even when he is admitting his fault after blaming the Frenchman earlier. It looks like the relationship between the two Alpine drivers will not be improving anytime soon. Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer would certainly be relieved over the Spaniard’s departure from the team now.
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