Fernando Alonso said he was in the wrong place at the wrong time as he was crashed into by his ex-teammate Esteban Ocon during the Sprint Shootout at the 2023 Brazilian Grand Prix.
The accident occurred at the Senna Esses (Turns 1-3) when Ocon ran wide and lost his car. It catapulted the Frenchman across the track and into the Spaniard who had moved off the racing line in an attempt to avoid impeding his ex-Alpine colleague.
Ocon then crashed into the barrier thus ending his session and limiting him to 16th whilst the 42-year-old Alonso managed to make it back to the pits, but his Aston Martin crew couldn’t repair his car in time for SQ2 and he will start the Sprint Race from 15th.
“Someone told me that he lost the car apparently a little bit,” Alonso said to F1 TV after the session. “And one of those situations; wrong place, wrong moment.”
Alonso upbeat for Brazilian GP
Despite the disappointing result, the F1 veteran remains upbeat for the remainder of the weekend, at least in comparison to that of the Mexico City GP.
“I think we were very fast yesterday. We certainly struggled a bit more today in SQ1 to go through,” Alonso added. “So some some question marks on our pace into today’s race and tomorrow but more confident than Mexico for sure.”
