Williams Team Principal James Vowles defends Alex Albon after Fernando Alonso doubles down on ‘very low’ level quality F1 drivers comment at the Mexico City GP.
After a clash between Alex Albon and Fernando Alonso at the US GP last weekend, Alonso took aim at the Williams driver with harsh comments. The two-time World Champion claimed that the “quality of the drivers in the lower third of the grid is very low, as we saw today with Alex [Albon]”.
The comment came after a moment during the US GP when the two drivers collided at Turn 11 on the opening lap, damaging Alonso’s AMR26 and costing him a chance at points. Albon was not penalised for the incident.
Despite being presented with the chance to take back his harsh comments, Alonso doubled down on his stance ahead of the Mexico City GP.
Team Principal disputes Alonso’s claim
While the Aston Martin driver maintains his stance, Albon feels differently. After being told that Alonso doubled down on his comments, the Williams driver defended the drivers at the lower end of the grid.
Williams Team Principal James Vowles was also informed of Alonso’s comments. The Briton disagreed with his claim, explaining instead that the level is rather high across the F1 grid this year.
“First of all, Fernando [Alonso] is one of the greats, and he’s entitled to his opinion, but I disagree with it,” Vowles began. “There was a racing incident. The stewards looked at it. It’s Lap 1. Both were going for the same piece of tarmac. There was actually, I think, one of the Haas cars also, not that it was their fault, but just the gaps were all closing. Simple as that.
“The grid today is filled with race winners and podium contenders, and that includes Fernando himself at that point. I don’t think his comments really stand in that regard.”
“Yes, I would say so,” Vowles responded when asked whether the 2026 F1 grid was the highest-quality he had seen in his career.
“I was just trying to think back if there’s another year. Probably I’ll be picked up by some statistician out there, but in my opinion, yes, I think what you’re really seeing out there is that we all know there’s a pretty close fight between all of us at the back, with only a few milliseconds separating us.
“Your position on Lap 1 can tend to dominate that, which just means there’s a lot more scrapping than there was before.”
READ MORE: Fernando Alonso claims F1 Mexico qualifying reflects Aston Martin’s “story of the year”
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