Fernando Alonso has been penalised for hitting Alpine Formula 1 team-mate Esteban Ocon in the Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race at a “dangerous” speed and location.
Alonso has been given a five-second time penalty and two penalty points for hitting Ocon at the end of the opening lap.
It means Alonso will start Sunday’s race 18th, one place behind Ocon who fell down the order due to damage sustained in a different clash with Alonso earlier on the opening lap.
Alonso has been punished for striking the rear of Ocon’s car after moving right too late while lining up a pass approaching the start-finish straight.
He initially claimed Ocon moved over on him, whereas Ocon said he had “no idea” how the clash had happened.
The stewards have determined that Alonso was “wholly at fault for the collision”.
They said that Alonso was going “significantly faster” than Ocon in the tow but admitted in the hearing that he “slightly misjudged” pulling out of the slipstream.
The stewards said that this was dangerous “at those speeds and at that location on the track”.
This was the second of two clashes between Ocon and Alonso on the opening lap of Saturday’s Interlagos race, after the first incident following a side-by-side moment through Turn 4 badly damaged Ocon’s car.
They have been criticised by Alpine for letting the team down with their collisions, which allowed McLaren to trim the gap in the constructors’ championship to five points as Lando Norris finished seventh – where he still start the grand prix.
