Alonso: Too many drivers ignored track limits on lap 1

Fernando Alonso has taken a dig at all drivers who disrespected the track limits on the opening lap of the French Grand Prix. He remains disappointed in the stewards who didn’t penalise those who went off the track. 

The initial collision between Vettel and Bottas created shockwaves down the track and caused drivers to take action. Another collision was caused further back creating more obstacles. Alonso was one of these drivers who took action, but he claims he remained within the track limits whilst others didn’t. 

"I started this race on the back-foot, losing positions at the start as I avoided a lot of accidents around me. Too many cars ahead of me took a short-cut, but I stayed on track and ended up last,” the Spaniard said in an interview on formulaspy.com. 

His McLaren car developed further issues later in the Grand Prix which caused Alonso to retire from his third straight F1 race. 

“I was still last after the Safety Car period, had a problem with overheating brakes, then used one set of tyres while running in traffic for nearly the whole race. Then, in the end, I had to retire with a suspension problem,” added the two-time World Champion. 

Alonso somehow remains positive about the whole situation. He looks forward to the second instalment of the tripleheader. The last part includes McLaren’s home race at Silverstone. 

“I know there are some new things coming over the next few months, and I’m still quite optimistic in spite of us being uncompetitive this weekend.”