14 Fernando Alonso ESP, Alpine F1 Team, F1 Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari on April 17, 2021 in Imola, Italy. Photo by HOCH ZWEI Imola Italy *** 14 Fernando Alonso ESP, Alpine F1 Team , F1 Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari on April 17, 2021 in Imola, Italy Photo by HOCH ZWEI Imola Italy
Fernando Alonso was left enraged after Sebastian Vettel cost him a place in Q3 during Austrian GP Qualifying
Two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso was looking in fine form ahead of the 2021 Austrian GP.
The Spaniard performed well last week at the Styrian GP and was close to the top of the timing sheets right throughout practice.
However, things didn’t all work in his favour when qualifying for the Austrian GP started. He easily made it to Q2 but the final run saw Alonso get held up by another car.
The Spaniard was in the relegation zone as it is and was on a hot lap with Q3 already in his sights. But, as it is the issue with such short laps, Sebastian Vettel was gearing up for his lap and was a little slow.
Alonso had to work hard to avoid crashing into Vettel, but the distraction was enough to see him miss out on Q3.
Alonso was extremely upset at all this and had a go at an apologetic Vettel. However, the Spaniard was a little more upbeat after qualifying and believed he could do a great job on Sunday.
This was Vettel’s birthday and the multiple-time world champion qualified eighth after Q3. However, the stewards have called both Alonso and Vettel and there is no doubt the German would be handed a penalty.
It is to be seen how far down Vettel goes, but it looks likely it will be a five-place penalty, at least.
That won’t help Alonso by any means as the Spaniard only qualified 14th for the race. He will have his choice of tyres for the race and a charged up Alonso could ensure a ton of excitement on race day.
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