Vasseur Criticizes Alonso For Incident With Leclerc

Saturday, 14 October 2023 at 22:00

Scuderia Ferrari F1 team principal Frederic Vasseur commented on the incident between Alonso and Leclerc that almost caused a crash during the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix.

The Qatar Grand Prix was one of the toughest races ever for all the drivers on the grid. While everybody had their own struggle, Fernando Alonso had a problem with a hot seat.

At one point in the race, he asked his race engineer to throw water at him during the pit stop. That did not end up happening, as the water might have damaged some electronics placed under the Spaniard's seat.

The race turned even worse for Alonso in lap 33 when he lost his rear after trying to turn into the second corner from a curb and had to counter-steer into the gravel.

The two-time World Champion then found the escape road; however, he picked up too much speed and reentered the track right before Charles Leclerc on Ferrari.

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While Alonso was not awarded a 5-second penalty, the move was deemed "unsafe" by the stewards. Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur was not happy with the incident as he compared it with reversed roles for the media after the race.

"If it was in the opposite, I think that Fernando would have been more than vocal on the radio, that his life was 'really on the edge' and so and so."

While Fernando Alonso might not see there were cars behind, a driver of his tier would be expected to predict such a scenario. Vasseur thinks it was "far too much"; on the contrary, stewards did not give the Spaniard penalty because Leclerc did not have to take "evasive measures" to avoid him.