Ferrari boss aims dig at Alonso over 'unsafe' Leclerc incident

Alonso ran wide through the gravel after making a mistake at Turn 2 on the 33rd lap of Sunday’s race at Qatar, before aggressively chopping in front of Leclerc’s Ferrari as he rejoined the track. 

The Aston Martin driver was reprimanded by the stewards for what they deemed to be an “unsafe” move. 

Vasseur was critical of Alonso after the race and suggested the Spaniard would have made a bigger deal out of the incident had things been the other way around.

“If it was in the opposite I think that Fernando would have been more than vocal on the radio, that his life was ‘really on the edge’ and so and so,” Vasseur said. 

“I think it was far too much coming from nowhere and crossing the track at 90 degrees, but it’s not my decision.”

But Leclerc, who ultimately finished 10 seconds ahead of Alonso in sixth, downplayed the incident. 

“It was on the limit, yes. But on the other hand, he was so far off that I don’t think he saw me at any point,” he explained. 

“Then coming back, it’s not the best way to rejoin the track, but at the same time I don’t think he was aware that I was there.”

Alonso acknowledged his error, saying: “I lost the car, it was my mistake. I was struggling a little bit with on-off grip in the car at the moment.

“So yeah it was my mistake, a costly mistake, maybe one or two places. So hopefully next time better.”