Alonso believes Verstappen did nothing wrong in Spa

Omnisports

September 2, 2016 1:37 AM

Fernando Alonso believes Max Verstappen did nothing wrong in the incident with Kimi Raikkonen at last Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.

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Fernando Alonso believes Max Verstappen did nothing wrong in the incident with Kimi Raikkonen at last Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix.

As Nico Rosberg secured his sixth victory of the 2016 Formula One season, all the drama unfolded behind him, including another thrilling battle between Red Bull's Verstappen and Ferrari's Raikkonen.

Verstappen drew criticism from several quarters after an aggressive defensive move on Raikkonen down the Kemmel Straight at Spa-Francorchamps.

Raikkonen claimed the young Dutchman will cause a major accident in the future if he continues to drive the way he has been since making his F1 debut, with team-mate Vettel also critical of Verstappen.

However, two-time world champion Alonso saw nothing wrong in Verstappen's move, believing it was within the rules.

"I think there is a rule that you cannot move in the braking zones, or you cannot move when a car is not alongside you," he said.

"So there is one movement allowed and as long as you are still in front of the car behind.

"I don't think Kimi was side-by-side and Max moved and put him on the grass. It was very late but maybe he didn't judge where Kimi was.

"But Kimi was still behind so the rule as is written is still applicable. It is good."

While he defended Verstappen's driving from Belgium, Alonso was left far from impressed with his efforts before the summer break in Hungary.

"We cannot confuse the fans about two completely different incidents in the middle of the straight, like Verstappen or Kimi, or the braking area like what happened to me in Australia where I misjudged the braking point," the Spaniard added.

"And also Max/Kimi in Hungary, on that occasion, I felt Max was moving a lot under braking into turn two and Max was way too aggressive

"We spoke about that in Germany in the drivers' briefing. All the drivers were not happy with Max in Hungary because it was under braking for turn two – and you cannot move in the braking zone.

"But in the middle of the straight you are allowed to do one move as long as the other car is alongside you. So everything fits with the incident in Spa."

Omnisports

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