Fernando Alonso rued being in the “wrong place at the wrong time”
after his session-ending Sprint Shootout collision with Esteban
Ocon. During the closing minutes of the first segment in the
Interlagos shootout, Alonso was on a cool lap and off the racing
line into Turn 3, as Ocon came past on a flying lap with the Alpine
sitting in the elimination zone. Ocon got a snap of oversteer
around the left-hander and collected the left-front of the Aston
Martin, spitting him into the barrier and causing severe damage to
his car, triggering a lengthy red-flag for tyre barrier repairs.
Despite the team’s best efforts, Aston Martin could not fix the
damage to Alonso’s car in time, meaning he sat out SQ2, and will
start 15th at best – if the damage can be repaired. Alonso responds
to Ocon contact “Unfortunately, we could not complete the
qualifying and it is a shame that both cars were out of qualifying,
with a lot of damage to both,” Alonso explained to F1TV following
the incident. “Someone told me that he lost the car a little bit
and it was one of those situations of being in the wrong place at
the wrong moment. “We had great pace [in Grand Prix qualifying],
but struggled a bit more [in the Sprint Shootout], so there are
some question marks on our pace, but I am more confident than
Mexico [and the United States].” On whether the car would be
repaired in time for the Sprint, Alonso insisted: “It should be
fine.”
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