"Both drivers have let the team down"- Alpine boss bashes Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon after 2022 F1 Brazilian GP Sprint crash

Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer revealed that he was disappointed with both drivers Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon after what happened during the Sprint race of the Brazilian GP.

Otmar stated that he expected better from the duo but what they have done is a blow and let the French team down. Although they recovered their positions during the main race on Sunday (November 13), this could be a topic of worry for the team in the upcoming future.

Otmar Szafnauer said:

"Today, both drivers have let the team down. I expect more from them tomorrow where we must do everything we can to recover some points from the weekend for the Championship."

Both Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso started the Sprint together at P6 and P7. During the opening lap on turn 4, Alonso took the outside line to get a lead over his teammate, but instead, he ended up making contact and damaging his front wing.

However, the minimal damage did not affect his speed as much and continued to take a slipstream from his teammate. At the end of the lap in the pit straight, the duo came too close and it resulted in Fernando Alonso clipping his front wing apart.

This entire incident saw both Alpine drivers lose enormous time and were sent to the back of the grid due to pitting for damage. They had a chance to end up with points but finished P17 and P18 in the Sprint.

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Fernando Alonso recovers point loss in the main race

Although the result of the Sprint race was disappointing for the French team, Fernando Alonso had a massive drive during the main race on Sunday at Interlagos.

He was fast enough to finish P5 and Ocon finished P8. However, after the incident during the Sprint race, the team was not very happy.

Otmar stated that the team is trying to fight hard for fourth place in the standings and he expects better from both drivers. The Alpine boss said:

"We are in a very tight and competitive championship fight for fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship; an objective for which over 1,000 staff are tirelessly working and striving towards."

Since both McLaren drivers had a DNF (Daniel Ricciardo crashed and Lando Norris had a technical failure), Alpine now have a good lead in the constructors' championship standings.

The French team now stands 19 points ahead of McLaren with 167 points as we head into the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi. There is a positive chance for Alpine to end up ahead of McLaren this year.