29/07/2023
NEWS STORY
Fernando Alonso has been given an official warning for an incident during today's Sprint.
The Spaniard was exiting the pits and moved over to the left, causing Nico Hulkenberg to have to take action to avoid a collision.
The Aston Martin driver, who subsequently crashed whilst looking to overtake the Haas driver, causing the Safety Car to be deployed, said he had no visibility to the rear at the time, and that he had driven on the far left of the track at that location on every lap in order to maximize his forward visibility.
While the stewards accepted this, the move from the right to the left in this case, while slower than the cars that had remained on track, caused the potential for a collision.
Considering the conditions in mitigation, the stewards opted to issue an official warning.
"I was following very closely behind Nico at the entry to Pouhon," said Alonso of his crash, "I lost downforce, touched the white line, and just lost the car.
"Trying to find grip, and guessing the grip levels in each corner, was tricky," admitted the Spaniard who celebrated his 42nd birthday today. "It was very slippery, and it was my mistake."
Check out our Saturday gallery from Spa here.