Alonso 'frustrated' with Hamilton clash – just wanted 'normal race'

Fernando Alonso says his Belgian Grand Prix was another frustrating case of suffering an unlucky incident after enjoying a strong start and racing near the front.

The Alpine driver tangled with Lewis Hamilton on the entry to Les Combes on the opening lap of the race.

Alonso compared the incident to the clash between Hamilton and Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg that took place at the same spot in 2014.

"For me it was a little bit of a mistake from his side to close the door like this," Alonso said. "At Turn 5 we’ve seen many, many times here that it goes parallel, and it happened the same to him with Rosberg a couple of years ago.

"I think it was a first-lap incident. I think it happens, at that corner especially, there are a lot of things that are going on and normally you cut the corner at Turn 6 and keep going at Turn 7.

"It is a tricky part of the circuit for sure and it was a racing incident."

• Read also: Hamilton admits contact with Alonso 'definitely my fault'

While the contact was terminal for Hamilton, who took the blame for the clash, it had little bearing on Alonso's race, save for the feeling of frustration it engendered.

"I was very disappointed, when I start well on the first row or second row all these things happen and for sure I was frustrated in that moment. But he accepted his mistake and it is welcomed," explained the two-time world champion.

"I am just sad because when I start P2 or P3 always these things happen. When I am 12th or 13th, I have a clean race.

"I wanted to have a normal [race] and we started already with an incident and then we have a very aggressive strategy and stopping early every time.

"I don’t think it was the smartest one but at the end top five makes it a good weekend with Charles’s penalty.

"So fifth and seventh [P7 for Esteban Ocon] is a great result for the team. It was a bad weekend for McLaren so we maximised those points."

Alonso had finished sixth on the road, just behind Charles Leclerc, but inherited fifth as a result of the Ferrari driver being handed a five-second penalty after the race for exceeding the pitlane speed limit during a late pitstop.

Alpine - which sits fourth in the Constructors' standings - now precedes McLaren in fifth place by 20 points.

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