Sainz and Alonso exchange war of words at Spanish GP: 'He got me a penalty, like always'

The incident in question saw Alonso squeezed into the wall on Lap 14. In a battle for P17, he sneaked up the outside of Sainz at the Turn 5 and 6 chicane, but suffered damage to his front wing as the Williams driver closed the door.

Immediately on team radio, an angry Alonso said: "Yeah, he squeezed me into the wall. The start, he crashed into two people. Now, he squeezed me to the wall on braking.”

The earlier incident referred to Sainz's Turn 1 contact with Racing Bulls stand-in Yuki Tsunoda on the opening lap. While the Madring's ambassador avoided punishment for that collision, he was not so lucky with the Alonso incident, receiving a five-second penalty. In the end, however, it made no difference to Sainz's race, as he later retired with damage sustained in the Tsunoda clash.

Speaking to media, including GPblog, Sainz was quick to blame his childhood idol Alonso's role in getting him in trouble at the pair's home race. Sainz said: "Nothing to say, really. It's the nature of that corner when you turn right, and I think he complained on the radio, so he managed to get me a penalty like always.

Having been told Sainz played the incident down, Alonso then gave his thoughts on the pair's contact, arguing a five-second penalty was the correct verdict and that the Williams driver's move was "unnecessary." He responded: "He had I think a penalty, no? So if they consider that enough, it's good for me.