Fernando Alonso was unimpressed with team-mate Esteban Ocon after the Frenchman’s robust defending of his position at the start of the 2022 Hungarian Grand Prix.
Alonso had started the race sixth behind Ocon, with both Alpines beginning the afternoon on Mediums – the only set of Mediums they had available to them for the afternoon.
They were both passed at the start of the race by Sir Lewis Hamilton, before the Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez put them under pressure later on during the first lap.
Before that had happened though, Alonso appeared to get a better start than his team-mate, looking towards the inside heading in towards Turn One.
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However, Ocon closed the door firmly as Alonso got close to the barrier, forcing the 41-year-old to stick behind him.
“Never in my life have I seen a defence like Esteban,” said an irritated Alonso over the radio.
The pair got close to one another on track later on in the afternoon as Daniel Ricciardo was closing on Alonso and, with Ocon having just left the pits, the three of them battled for position.
The two Alpines held each other up at Turn Two, allowing Ricciardo to swoop through and past both of them.
However, the Australian fell backwards as he lost pace on his Hards, and neither of the Alpines had any more Mediums left at their disposal, so they each made one stop onto the hardest rubber, losing ground as a result.
They therefore could not catch the McLaren of Norris, and had to settle for six points on Sunday after Alonso eventually passed his team-mate for eighth.
Ricciardo ended the race 15th after picking up a penalty for hitting Lance Stroll, so both McLaren and Alpine walked away from Budapest with the same number of points, meaning that the French side stay in fourth in the championship, four points ahead of the Woking-based team.