Albon says Alonso does not remember it quite right: There are no pay drivers left in F1

Fernando Alonso began his Formula 1 career 25 years ago. Since then, he has raced against several generations of drivers, but when asked to compare them on Thursday, he said the standard of driving at the back of the field had not improved. Those remarks were also aimed at Alex Albon. The Williams driver disagrees with that assessment.

Alonso criticised Albon immediately after the race. The Thai-British driver brushed it off at the time, saying the Spaniard’s emotions were running high. By Thursday, Alonso had had plenty of time to cool down, but his comments had not changed. In his view, drivers such as Albon are not good enough.

“I have huge respect for Fernando. I looked up to him a lot growing up as a kid,” said Alex Albon. “Obviously, it’s not nice to hear those comments in many ways. You’re racing someone that you looked up to, but at the same time, I don’t agree.”

Alonso may be looking back through rose-tinted glasses. Perhaps he is forgetting the drivers of 20 years ago when he claims that standards at the back of the grid have not improved. “I think the level is strong up and down the grid. Ten or fifteen years ago, the back half of the grid wasn’t the way it is now. You don’t have pay drivers anymore. It is what it is, hopefully we don’t cross paths in the race this weekend.”

F1 driving standards at their highest in years

Several drivers voiced their support for Albon. His team-mate Carlos Sainz felt Alonso had been a “bit harsh”. He went on to say that this year’s grid was the strongest of his 12 seasons in the sport.

“I can’t think of anyone who is not up to F1 standards. All the rookies that have come in over the last few years are good. Some make mistakes, like I used to do when I was younger, and I still do mistakes now, you’ve seen me do [them] this year. In the last half of the grid there are more incidents, but I prefer to think it’s circumstantial and not because of the quality of the grid,” said Carlos Sainz.

The view that “the level on the grid is probably one of the highest” was also shared by Pierre Gasly. “I’ve seen some wild driving approaches when I joined compared to what I see now.”

According to Ollie Bearman, the risk of accidents at the back is higher simply because the top teams usually leave only ninth and tenth places for the “best of the rest”, who have to fight fiercely over them. “With the gaps that we face this year, you have to be very opportunistic at times, and that can end in disaster, like it did for me last week with myself and Pierre.”

“So I wouldn’t say it’s a question of quality. It’s a question of trying your very best and trying to make something happen, which is very challenging when the top eight positions are pretty much all filled by the top four teams,” he added.