Alonso remorseful: 'I ruined his race because I made a mistake'

For Fernando Alonso, there could have been points at the Miami Grand Prix, but he squandered the opportunity in a little too eager action with Pierre Gasly and by exceeding the track limits moments later. After the race, the Spaniard did not hesitate to acknowledge his mistake and apologise to his colleague.

His mistakes landed him on no less than two five-second time penalties, leaving the Alpine driver just outside the top ten. "It was a tough race," said Alonso according to Speedweek.com.

The 40-year-old Spaniard had a rock-solid start, but lost time at his pit stop. After this he wanted to make up time, but in doing so he collided with Gasly. He admits that his action was somewhat 'optimistic'. "I deserved the five-second penalty," Alonso acknowledges. "It was my mistake, I braked too late."

He then wanted to give the position back, but at that moment Gasly was in the pits. As a result, Alonso had no choice but to take the five-second time penalty. During his post-race interview, he ran into the AlphaTauri driver, to whom he immediately apologized.

"I ruined Pierre's race because I braked too late. It was my mistake and I feel bad for him because it is very difficult to finish a race when someone hits you from behind," said a remorseful Alonso.