Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc have praised the role of the Halo after it likely protected the Monegasque in their violent La Source crash at the Belgian GP.
The incident was triggered was Nico Hulkenberg as the German locked his brakes and slammed into the back of the McLaren, which led to it flying over the Sauber, taking all three out of the race at the start.
After an investigation, the stewards slapped the Renault driver with a 10-place grid drop for this weekend’s race at Monza, however, offering his side of the story, the 31-year-old claimed he was shocked by how little control he had.
“It’s just incredible to find out again on Lap 1 how sensitive these cars are with aerodynamics when you have a few cars that bunch up in front of you, how much grip and load you lose,” he claimed.
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“When I hit the brakes obviously I instantly locked up the front wheels and then just sliding into Fernando. Yeah, probably a misjudgment from my side, a bit too late on the brakes, a bit too keen.
“It’s frustrating obviously for him, for Charles as well but also for myself.”
Alonso wasn’t buying any excuses, however, as he ripped into Hulkenberg for rekindling memories of a similar incident which had him in Leclerc’s seat in 2012.
“Again a very big-time missing braking point, that time I think Romain [Grosjean] had a race ban. This time we’ll see.” Alonso told the BBC drawing comparisons before the later penalty was given.
“But it’s tough to understand how you can miss so much. It’s not a couple of metres when you arrive at a speed which is impossible to negotiate the corner, so said for that but happy we are all fine.”
The Lotus would fly across the front of the Spaniard’s cockpit narrowly avoiding his head six years ago, and images of Leclerc’s car after the incident this year proved how valuable the Halo is.
“Luckily the positive side is that we all three OK. Especially Charles, I flew over his car, the Halo was a very good thing to have today,” he said.
“I think for him it helped, looking at the replay. And yeah for me in that case in 2012 I was definitely happier if I had the Halo. We don’t need to prove it’s a good thing to has.”
The 20-year-old agreed, later writing on Instagram: “I have never been a fan of the Halo but I have to say that I was very happy to have it over my head.
“I felt the impact and looking at the image of my car it is quite spectacular. I was lucky.”
