Alonso criticises Grosjean’s “aggressive” driving

2013 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Fernando Alonso says Romain Grosjean was too aggressive at the start of the race and is pleased the Lotus driver was penalised later on.

Alonso said he knew his race hinged on making a good start: “We thought that the start was our only opportunity because we were not quick enough.”

“In the start we didn’t maximise the good start we did. Grosjean was concentrating only me, maybe he forgot that we are racing 24 [sic] cars.”

“But I was happy that he paid penalty after with Jenson* to compensate a little bit his aggressivity.”

However Alonso admitted the root of Ferrari’s problems at the Hungaroring was a lack of performance:

“At the end we didn’t have the pace. We were too slow with the soft, we were too slow with the medium. So you know we defend from Webber, from Button, from Romain at the end so we were always defending because we were too slow in the race.

“Thanks to Hamilton and to Kimi [Raikkonen] the loss in points in the championship is not so high but obviously we want to close that gap and we need to improve immediately.”

*Grosjean’s penalty was for his overtaking move on Felipe Massa.

2013 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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47 comments on “Alonso criticises Grosjean’s “aggressive” driving”

  1. “In the start we didn’t maximise the good start we did. Grosjean was concentrating only me, maybe he forgot that we are racing 24 [sic] cars.”

    You can see how much he misses HRT…

    1. Best F1 break for me, people will talk about KR’s successes and FA’s complains for a whole month. Does anyone read Italian newspaper?

    2. Well, He is Spanish lol.

  2. Well I thought Grosjean’s driving at the start was brilliant. Nothing to complain about there, he was firm, decisive and quick to react. Shame he couldn’t quite pull it off when overtaking Button later on.

  3. Alonso complaining, this isn’t news.

    1. he forgot not all 21 drivers are his teammate except Massa.

  4. GRO’s driving was great, He didn’t do anything any other driver wouldn’t do, Alonso is taking things a bit to personally

  5. I’m sorry but I don’t agree Alonso: his driving at the start was fine – he didn’t unduly shove anybody, he kept his nose clean and was generally firm but fair. I didn’t however like his driving with Button (that was just stupid) and the move on Massa was unfair but only marginally so – he should’ve just given the place back. It would’ve been excellent had he just kept a wheel on the circuit though!

  6. “Thanks to Hamilton and to Kimi [Raikkonen] the loss in points in the championship is not so high but obviously we want to close that gap and we need to improve immediately.”

    Fernando, you might want to consider them as contenders as well, since you and Ferrari can’t seem to find a way forward, while Mercedes and Hamilton are improving a lot and Kimi has been making some epic moves lately. Lotus seem more likely to get their qualifying together than Ferrari at this point, which means Kimi will finish in front of Fernando more often as well.

    I’m not sure if Alonso turns to inflating his ego when things aren’t going his way, but he reminds me more of 2005-2007 Alonso than himself one year ago.

    1. Apparently Button had the following to say:

      “I’m going to see the stewards about it, but I think it’s pretty straightforward – I couldn’t go any more left,” Button said.

      “That’s it, really. Unless I’m on the grass, which is not where I want to be when I’m braking for a corner, he had no way of not hitting me. I obviously didn’t realise how narrow the circuit was at that corner…

      “It could have been a lot worse than it was. It could have ended both of our races. I was quite lucky. I think our cars are robust.”

  7. I think that sometimes it’s just a little too easy to criticise Grosjean publicly…I thought he was fine today.

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      28th July 2013, 17:50

      +1 – Second best drive of the race after Lewis today

    2. Me too, I still don’t understand the problem with the Button incident, will have to see it again. But the start seemed fine. Funny how nobody points a finger at yet another Vettel Veer Special, lunging at another driver from the grid start and trying to steer them off track, which he did with Grosjean until there was (I think) no space left. Is that strictly legal? Anyhow, just saying that seemed much more aggressive than anything Grosjean did.

    3. If it was only alonso complaining, that isn’t news. Problem is the FIA stewards

    4. i agree. I think Alonso was unhappy with the lack of pace and he decided to reveal some frustration by mentioning Gronjean because it easy to pick at him due to the whole bad rumor he got from his few bad starts last year.
      Sorry but that was low behavior from Alonso.

  8. Well i dont quite understand the expectation of Alonso. Does he expect everybody other than Vettel to move over for him at the start. He should remember that he is also racing 24 drivers not just one !!!!!!

    I thought Grosjean drove a good race today. Good start great overtakes etc. The penalty was kind of too harsh on him…

    Well no point thanking Kimi and Lewis… they are pulling away from him now !!!!!

    1. @tmax correction, he is racing 21 drivers (20 more like – I wouldn’t count Massa as one of Alonso’s opponents)!

  9. One can just sense the immense frustration of Alonso due to the absolutely rubbish Ferrari development rate, when one reads these completely unrealistic statements.

    From an Alonso fan.

    I hate it how Ferrari as a team feels completely content to rely only on him, expecting him to carry them over to a WDC solely. It’s almost abuse. From an attitude point of view, Ferrari is surely among the worst teams, just unable to motivate themselves like every single other team does. Alonso is very polite towards them, but they really needs some kick in the ass, I believe Alonso should change its policy towards them. Committing to 2016 and neglecting the series of failures in development leads to nowhere.

  10. Traverse (@)
    28th July 2013, 17:23

    There was nothing wrong with Grosjean’s manoeuvres at the beginning of the race, he let himself down later on though.

    On another note, who would’ve thought that Alonso would still have just the two WDCs come 2013? I guess nobody expected beasts like Ham and The Vet to turn up and spoil the Alonso love-in. I also dispute this notion that Alonso is the most complete driver on the grid. He clearly lacks the vital qualifying skill set to eke out every last drop of qualy potential, he also lacks outright pace but (to be fair), he is the most consistent driver by far.

    My vote for most complete driver goes to Vettel: He’s fast and consistent, rarely makes mistakes, always maximises his qualifying position and when the time comes to finish off his opponents he doesn’t hesitate to plunge the knife (figuratively) into their chests! Being a 3-time consecutive WDC doesn’t do his case any harm neither.

    Hamilton would be the perfect driver if he was more consistent with tyre management, a skill that he showed in abundance today.

    1. Vettel has been helped by having (on average) the best car on the grid, whereas the Ferrari’s not quite on front-running pace. So I’d say Alonso is the better of the two. Just.

    2. I guess nobody expected beasts like Ham and The Vet to turn up and spoil the Alonso love-in.

      And yet again I can safely say Alonso inherited the blind haters Schumacher had, while Vettel inherited the ‘it’s just the car’ crowd.

    3. Just a small personal note: Kimi was on 30+ old tires today towards the end and Sebastian with much fresher tires barely tried. Yes, he’s making points for his 4th WDC, so he chilled after Kimi said clearly “no” once. Probably Ham or Alo would have passed or tried harder. I rate him quite high, but a step well below Ham and Alo

      1. @nuvolari71 it’s definitely worth bearing in mind the top speed deficit of the Red Bull though: Vettel didn’t really have any opportunities into turn one and so wasn’t quite close enough in most cases into turn 2, so his only real chance was into turn 4 which is a notoriously difficult place to pass (especially when you’re up against somebody of the defensive calibre as Räikkönen). He had the tyres but not the car unfortunately for the job.

        1. fair point. I also guess Horner made a call like “bud, Alo is way back, bring P3 home”.

        2. it’s definitely worth bearing in mind the top speed deficit of the Red Bull though

          Let’s not forget that with the top speed deficit there is also a tremendous traction in that RB9 we all know how Red Bull set’s their cars with short gear ratio to maximize the acceleration which is theoretically ideal a good exit from the last turn then use DRS but that is not the case overtaking today was really tricky Alonso defended from Grosjean maybe for half the race despite the Lotus is a quicker car than the Ferrari
          But i still don’t get it with some non sense after race judgments like Vettel is better than Kimi because he defended well in the Nurburgring & today Kimi is a better racer than Vettel because he didn’t let him pass , Alonso is weak because he finished 5th blablablabla……..

  11. I think this penalising and complaining about Grosjean is getting a bit old. People kind of enjoy jumping on the band wagon a bit. His start was fine, he was hard but fair, so I don’t know what Alonso is on about. Buttons incident was just that, a racing incident. And Massa’s move was one of the best bits of overtaking I have seen this year. Penalty was harsh, if the stewards felt he had an advantage by going off track they should just have told him to give the position back. The reality this weekend was that Grosjean had Kimi beat on pace. Simple as that, and Kimi is no slouch as we all know.

    1. I think it’s generally accepted that the teams have to tell a driver to give the place back if they see it as illegal: case in point, Abu Dhabi last year (where Vettel had four wheels off the track in his first attempt at overtaking Grosjean).

    2. if the stewards felt he had an advantage by going off track they should just have told him to give the position back.

      I read earlier this year that giving back positions isn’t anymore valid if you have made an error you will be penalized i will try to remember when & where i read it

  12. I like Alo, but not his Samuaria comments lol, this may bring him down a peg afterall he as no title since 06 that is an awul long time and he is running out of his peak now last year and this year is his peak, he certainly wont get better history shows that.

  13. If anything GRO was defending from a very aggressive move by VET at the start of the race, he didn’t leave any room for the Lotus and blocked ALO on the way.

    I guess ALO is frustrated by the result and is looking for an excuse on a poor result, blaming someone who is normally in trouble at the start. GRO had a great race, should’ve had a better place at the end.

    I think this constant complaining is killing the racing action, GRO was one of the few entertainers of the race

  14. So GRO was only focusing on Alonso

  15. I was very impressed with Grossjean at the start. The way Vettel was trying to shove him off was just rude and awkward really. Grossjean just stuck to his line.

    The first turns after the start were indeed a tad messy, but I’d say Alonso was as much to blame for that. He lost out in an overtake and nearly got collected by Massa and Grossjean.

    1. +1

      I thought Vettel was pushing a bit with Grosjean on the run down to turn 1. Nothing wrong with Grosjean’s start. Button incident was messy, but Massa overtake was unfairly punished in my opinion.

    2. Vettel still left a car’s width for Grosjean, unlike RG’s actions at Spa last year. That was “trying to shove” an opponent off.

  16. I don’t often post here but, Alonso has no right to complain about aggressive driving as he is probably the most over-aggressive on the grid. He has absolutely no problem at all dive-bombing into the first corner, a true “turn 1 hero” if he was not so aggressive he would have won the 2012 WDC. I am tired of people treating Alonso as some sort of driving god, he should have been able to take advantage of Vettel’s bad luck (2 retirements that weren’t his fault compared to 1 for Alonso ) but he was driving to aggressively. I truly hate how Alonso plays mind games and blames his lack of success on others.

    1. Well when you drive a car that’s under powered you need to be aggressive. Even if you are a driving god.

      1. Right and then you lose the title by 3 tiny point because you crash into the back of Kimi ;) sorry about the triple post. Alonso has no one but himself to blame for not wining the 2012 title.

  17. I don’t often post here but, Alonso has no right to complain about aggressive driving as he is probably the most over-aggressive on the grid. He has absolutely no problem at all dive-bombing into the first corner, a true “turn 1 hero” if he was not so aggressive he would have won the 2012 WDC. I am tired of people treating Alonso as some sort of driving god, he should have been able to take advantage of Vettel’s bad luck (2 retirements that weren’t his fault compared to 1 for Alonso ) but he was driving to aggressively. I truly hate how Alonso plays mind games and blames his lack of success on others.

    1. You don’t often post here

      but when you do, it’s 3 times in a row.

  18. Maybe Romain was too aggressive with Button but what Alonso has to do with that?!? Oh he lost points to Vettel again, that’s why. It was Vattel who was to aggressive to Romain at the start for sure. And even Massa admitted that the drive through penalty was to much. It was the best drive from the Frenchman and the one that kept the fun going on today as well.

  19. I’m sorry FER but you’re not going to win the WDC with stupid comments like these. Or did you not see Vettel pushing Grosjean to the edge………………….. That was naughty but fari.

    I’m rooting like mad for you but you just made a horrible mistake in my eyes. Stop being frustrated and drive harder.

    And when I finally found a driver worthy of rooting for…………

  20. Daniel (@collettdumbletonhall)
    28th July 2013, 20:33

    He was fine, it was Vettel who was pushing his luck a little.

  21. Alonso admits he was blocking the entire race because he was too slow …. forgets that his team mate ran into the back of R. Grojean, but remembers to complain about Grojean because he passed the slow Ferrari!!!!! Grojean got screwed big time during this race but he was cool enough to accept it and come back for a good finish. Thanks, Ray

  22. Alonso complaining about another driver with no good reason? Well I never…

  23. One more reason for me to like Massa and like Alonso less. Massa was the one who was overtaken and said it was fair, Alonso is blaming people for not laying a red carpet under his wheels when he races.

  24. Nick the Quick
    30th July 2013, 2:21

    Not sure if you all saw what FA was refering to. On the first left hander (T2 I believe) FA managed to position himself more than 75% side by side on the outside of RG. He maintained this position all the way around the corner until RG ran all the way to the edge of the track, forcing FA off track. How is this good clean racing? If a driver can put more than 60% of his car alongside another, the other car needs to leave at least a car width of room. I realise many drivers do the same, but it’s gettng ridiculous. We’re not talking about chopping off noses, we’re talking about forcing cars who are 60% alongside off track. I encourage you all to watch it again.

    Also, I remember a lot of similar anti FA views last year after the Suzuka race involving KR. Kimi had a nose (not even front tires equal to rear tires) on the outside of FA. Everybody seemed to blame FA for not leaving KR a lane around the outside. I’m a fan of both, but KR had zero chance of progressing past FA since this was the beginning of a long right hander, and he barely was 10% alongside the outside. But nobody seems to have the same view when FA had 75% of his car alongside at the EXIT of a corner.

    1. FA managed to position himself more than 75% side by side on the outside of RG. He maintained this position all the way around the corner until RG ran all the way to the edge of the track, forcing FA off track.

      All completely legal, nothing wrong with any of it. We see similar moves all the time. Do you see Webber complaining about Hamilton forcing him wide at turn three later in the race? No.

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