Alonso stands by criticism of F1's back-of-grid drivers after Albon clash

Fernando Alonso has renewed his criticism of drivers at the back of the F1 grid, maintaining that Alex Albon made an unnecessary mistake in their United States Grand Prix collision. At Mexico City Grand Prix media day, Alonso said he was not identifying a precise number and that his concern extended beyond Austin to incidents in that part of the field across the season. He also said he still struggled to understand what opportunity Albon had seen, and argued that drivers who felt hit by his remarks knew whom he meant.

Albon tried to pass on the inside at Turn 11 on lap one and the cars made contact, leaving Alonso's car with extensive floor and sidepod damage. The stewards did not penalise the incident. Albon called it a normal racing incident, saying another car had squeezed him from the outside; Carlos Sainz also pushed back against Alonso's wider criticism of the back of the grid.

Alonso said the standard at the back had not declined over the years. He argued that cars there are harder to drive and have less grip, so mistakes come more often; that did not make every first-lap touch or flying front wing necessary, he said. He also said the cost cap added to the problem, but if teams were happy with the cap and with breaking parts every race, “it's okay for them”.

On the stewards' role, Alonso said they should intervene only when something is clearly unsafe. He framed the wider choice in terms of drivers' own ambitions: whether they want to stay in F1 longer, earn an opportunity at a bigger team—or be “happy to crash”.