Alonso blasts 'very low quality' backmarkers after Albon clash wrecks his United States GP

Fernando Alonso tore into the standard of Formula 1’s lower-order drivers after first-lap contact with Alex Albon’s Williams left his Aston Martin with severe floor damage at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, ultimately finishing 12th.

Alonso had qualified 12th and lost a place off the line as Esteban Ocon surged from 15th. Albon, who had made a strong start from 17th, was running 14th and challenging Alonso through the Esses when the incident unfolded. At Turn 11, Alonso moved to the inside to pass the two Haas cars ahead, but Albon had committed to the same line. As the gap closed, Albon’s front-right wheel struck Alonso’s left-hand bargeboard and floor edge, pushing the Aston Martin wide onto the outside kerb and dropping Alonso four further positions.

The damage was clearly visible on Albon’s onboard camera, and Alonso was blunt about its consequences when he spoke to the media afterwards. “I think we lost half a second or more per lap,” he said. “The car is destroyed — I saw it in parc ferme. Half of the floor is not there. I don’t know how we kept on going and how we were semi-competitive.”

Alonso admitted he had considered retiring the car mid-race. “I couldn’t turn. I thought about retiring — I was ready to switch it off,” he said. “But then they put a new front wing and I went out again. The car was turning OK to the right and not OK to the left for the last 15 laps. But we wanted to finish and collect a little bit more data.”

The Spaniard was unsparing in his assessment of the drivers around him in the lower reaches of the grid. “When you start at the back, there is this risk always,” he said. “I think the quality of the drivers in the low third of the grid is very low. As we saw today with Alex. So I think we need to improve the car and start a little bit higher up.”

Albon offered his own account of the collision, suggesting the situation was more complex than Alonso implied. “It felt like there was a car on the right side of Fernando, and he gave Fernando enough space as if he thought there was only one car on his inside,” Albon said. “But then I was on the inside of Fernando. So it pinched, and I tried to get out of the way and get on the kerb.”

The stewards chose not to investigate the incident, treating it as a typical consequence of three cars contesting the same piece of track at a tight corner.