As Crash.net reports, Fernando Alonso's scathing verdict on the Formula 1 drivers running at the rear of the field has been dismissed as an overreaction. That counter-punch comes straight from ex-F1 driver turned Sky Sports Italia pundit Ivan Capelli, who took issue with the two-time world champion's outburst following the United States Grand Prix.
The friction started after a first-lap collision with Williams driver Alex Albon completely wrecked Alonso's Sunday afternoon. Left driving an Aston Martin carrying significant damage, the veteran could only limp home to a 16th-place finish. Stinging from the encounter, Alonso did not hold back in his post-race remarks, claiming that a third of the F1 grid operates at a quality level that is simply "very low" and demanding that his team figure out how to qualify higher up.
Capelli, speaking to Italian publication La Gazzetta dello Sport, firmly rejected that assessment. In his view, Alonso completely exaggerated the situation. To prove his point, the pundit flagged drivers like Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas who find themselves fighting near the back, noting that those same individuals were capable of winning grands prix not so long ago when handed competitive machinery.
The former driver argued that pushing an uncooperative machine beyond its natural limits inevitably triggers mistakes and on-track collisions. When the car refuses to obey the driver's inputs, errors simply happen. Capelli also pointed out a generational split in how drivers handle the current regulations, suggesting that younger talents like runaway F1 championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli have mastered adapting to the new technology much faster.
For older competitors, adjusting to modern machines means actively fighting years of deeply ingrained instincts, habits, and driving automatisms. Yet despite the frustrations and the brutal battles at the rear, Capelli believes the Spaniard is fundamentally still enjoying himself out there. As he put it, the veteran simply remains a massive character driven to keep scoring and adding new chapters to his own story.
