Credits: IMAGO / Michael Potts

China hosted F1’s first Sprint race of the 2024 season, five years after the sport last visited Shanghai. The first victim of the Grand Prix weekend was Fernando Alonso, who was forced to retire from the race after a collision with Carlos Sainz. The Oviedo-born driver was on course to finish in the podium places before the same.

Alonso was engaged in a four-way battle for P3, but his tires took a heavy toll and on lap 17 of the race, his battle with Sainz marked the end of his race. Alonso aimed to make a move on Sainz on turn eight but failed to complete the maneuver. Then, the two Spaniards ended up making contact.

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Alonso went on to the radio to complain about a puncture on his front right tire. On lap 17, there wasn’t much the Aston Martin engineers could do, and since it was a Sprint race, the Silverstone-based outfit decided to retire the car. Alonso started the race from P3 and was even second at one point. However, Max Verstappen, who was too strong for others, took the lead comfortably and went on to win the race. Lewis Hamilton followed the Dutchman to finish second.

The other Red Bull driver, Sergio Perez, took full advantage of the battle between Alonso and Sainz. The latter’s teammate Charles Leclerc also joined in. Alonso retired, and the Ferrari drivers were fighting hard for P3, allowing Perez to pass both from the outside.

Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz have their say on the incident

After the race, both Sainz and Alonso had their say on the incident that plagued both of their races. What was initially believed to be a racing incident, saw Alonso come off as the losing party.

According to Sainz, had he not collided with Alonso, both Ferrari drivers could have finished on the podium. Per the Madrid-born driver, Alonso made an optimistic move to get past him on turn nine.

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Meanwhile, Alonso called Sainz out for not leaving any room for him. The 42-year-old claimed that he opened up the lane for Sainz on turn eight. But, the latter didn’t reciprocate on the next turn, leading to a clash.

Alonso wasn’t the only driver to complain about Sainz’s driving after the Chinese GP Sprint, however. Even Charles Leclerc felt that Sainz didn’t leave him any space, which caused the team to lose out on P3 to Red Bull’s Perez.