05 November 2023 , 12:07
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Fernando Alonso has fired back at Esteban Ocon after the Frenchman labelled him a "f****** idiot" following a crash between the duo.
Alonso had been going slower in the first qualifying session for Saturday's sprint race, with Ocon coming up fast behind him. Onboard cameras suggested Alonso could have given his rival more space, but also indicated that Ocon had lost control of his car.
The crash put Ocon out of the session as he slammed into the barriers, with Alonso's car also damaged. Ocon fumed over team radio, hitting out at the Spaniard, who had been his team-mate for two years at Alpine.
Tempers flared at times towards the end of Alonso's time with the French team, before he joined Aston Martin ahead of the current season. And the two-time world champion has taken the chance to hit back at Ocon for his comments.
“Yes, I heard what that guy said. He’s still very immature and hasn’t changed his way of seeing things, but hey, there are other things that don’t change either. He came out behind me like last year and stayed there, like last year," he said.
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"So it’s all normal. Whenever there is an Alpine you have to be extra careful. We touched entering Turn 6… they must think our car is narrower than it really is, and I ended up in the grass again.”
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Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon crashed in the Sprint Shootout (Sky Sports)Alonso would go on to finish 11th in the Sprint race and will line up in fourth place for Sunday's main event. Ocon meanwhile could only manage 14th after the huge crash and will start 12th for the race.
Despite his disappointing result, the Frenchman paid tribute to his mechanics for being able to get his car ready. He opted not to touch on the incident in qualifying and is instead shifting his focus to Sunday.
“First of all I want to give a big shout out to the entire team in the garage for their heroic work on the car to get it ready in time for the Sprint Race. They had to replace pretty much everything other than the engine and the chassis," Ocon said.
"So a big well done and thank you to them. After the unfortunate incident in the Shootout, we started sixteenth today so we gained a couple of places during what was a tough but straightforward race.
"We had a couple of good overtakes but perhaps lacked the speed compared to the Astons, who are quick here. We now shift our focus to tomorrow where we’ll need to fight our way back up to the points to finish the weekend on a high.”
Max Verstappen will start from pole on Sunday, having won the Sprint, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc just behind him in second. Alonso will line up one place behind his current team-mate Lance Stroll, who qualified in third place.