Alonso and Sainz exchange accusations after disastrous Spanish GP for home drivers
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MADRID (AP) — Ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz were side by side, smiling and chatting as they addressed the local crowd.
There was none of that after the race was over.
In a home grand prix to forget, Alonso and Sainz struggled on the track and then exchanged accusations off it.
The only two Spaniards on the grid collided while fighting for position, and neither was happy with the incident that happened when Alonso tried to pass Sainz on a fast part of the circuit early in the race.
Sainz had also collided with other drivers after an aggressive start at the Madring track that welcomed F1 back to Madrid after a 45-year absence.
“He squeezed me into the wall,” Alonso said on the radio. “(At) the start, he crashed into two people, now he squeezed me into the wall on breaking.”
Sainz received a five-second penalty for the incident with Alonso, and eventually retired with an issue with his Williams car. Alonso, who also had damage on his Aston Martin, finished 17th.
The spat between the Spaniards continued after the race.
“At 340 kph (210 mph), I’d rather no one squeeze me against the wall,” Alonso said. “I’d rather be alive at the end of the race.”
He said people were asking him about “the touch between the two Spaniards,” but “I didn’t touch anyone, I was a centimeter from the wall and someone came and sent me into the wall at 340 kph.”
Sainz defended himself.
“There isn’t much to say. It’s the nature of the corner when you turn,” Sainz said. “The nature of that corner is always going to cause these kinds of incidents, because there’s only room for one car.”
Sainz said Alonso “complained on the radio and got them to punish me.”
Alonso saw it differently.
“Unfortunately, Carlos hit me and it meant we had to pit to replace the front wing. There was a penalty given out so that’s the decision taken by the FIA and I think it was correct,” Alonso said through Aston Martin.
The Spanish GP was back in the Madrid region for the first time since it took place at Jarama in 1981. Organizers expected a total attendance of nearly 350,000 spectators throughout the weekend in the Spanish capital.
Spanish King Felipe VI was among those on hand for the race at the new Madring urban track.
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See AP’s full auto racing coverage here