There was no love lost between Jolyon Palmer and Fernando Alonso, as the duo were the center of attention at the Italian Grand Prix for an argument in the race, which revolved around an overtake that Alonso felt was less than fair. The side-by-side onboard footage has been released. Whose side are you on?
The overtake in question occurred in the second chicane in a battle for P13. Heading out of the first chicane, Alonso had a sizable gap to the Renault behind, but the Honda powered McLaren quickly fell prey to Renault, helped also by the slipstream throughout turn three. Palmer managed to get on Alonso’s right-hand side as the pair entered the braking zone for the chicane and Palmer was slightly ahead. Entering the corner, Alonso got a little too much kerb and understeered, forcing Palmer to cut the chicane. Palmer rejoined the track alongside Alonso again and eventually made the overtake stick.
Alonso was unhappy with the move, believing that Palmer should have given the position back for cutting the corner. Meanwhile, Palmer felt that Alonso had forced him off the track, especially considering he had the slight advantage going into the corner. Palmer eventually retired from the race, something that Alonso called “karma” over the team radio.
Fortunately, the official Formula One social media team has released a side-by-side comparison of the onboard cameras from each car, along with the audio.
After reviewing the footage, I do think that Alonso is at fault for this one. Palmer did have the lead, not that it matters since Alonso didn’t really leave the space required under the regulations. Palmer’s actions were purely to avoid a collision and I think that he made an adequate effort to slow down while cutting the chicane and rejoin the track in pretty much the same position he had been prior to the corner.
That being said, I don’t think that this would be a penalty-worthy incident anyway. Drivers need to be allowed to race. If Palmer had kept the throttle wide open when he was cutting the corner or if Alonso had collided with Palmer, then I could see a penalty maybe being issued, but for a situation like this a penalty is pointless and just makes Formula One appear too strict when it comes to racing.
What do you think? Is it Palmer’s fault or Alonso’s? Click here to watch the video and then cast your vote below.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or company. Assumptions made in any analysis contained within this article are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the author.
