For the second week running Formula 1 saw the finger wag in play, this time it was Fernando Alonso chastising Yuki Tsunoda.
Last time out at the British Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc was subjected to the finger wag as his Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto tried to bring him into line following a disappointing race for the championship hopeful.
Both later downplayed the moment with former F1 driver turned pundit Jenson Button pointing out that one does not finger wag a friend to “cheer them up”.
Alonso’s wag to Tsunoda was definitely not in line with friendship, more chastisement.
Racing for position in Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix, the Spaniard tried to pass Tsunoda along the straight between Turns 3 and 4.
The AlphaTauri driver pushed his Alpine rival towards the edge of the track, Alonso putting a wheel on the grass at 300 km/h.
Despite the hairy moment, the Spaniard didn’t lift and seconds later overtook Tsunoda, giving him the good ol’ finger wag in the process.
“I was on the grass, so I don’t know why he was pushing me that far,” said the Alpine driver. “I was with the DRS on the grass, flat out, and there was no way to defend.
“I was already side-by-side, so I don’t know.
“I feel like those kind of things, it’s better to avoid at 300 km/h, but it was okay.”
Fernando Alonso wagging his finger at Yuki Tsunoda at 200mph mid-race after being forced onto the grass is peak Alonso 😅 pic.twitter.com/65NGI98lOi
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) July 10, 2022
Alonso finished the race in 10th place, scoring a single point while Tsunoda was P16, ahead only of Sebastian Vettel.
The AlphaTauri driver reckons it was his worst grand prix weekend of this championship as his AT03 lacked pace.
Both team-mates failed to make it through to Q3 on Friday evening, lost positions in Saturday’s sprint race and from there were unable to recover in Sunday’s grand prix.
“It was tough, a really long race as I didn’t have pace at all,” Tsunoda told the official F1 website.
“I gave it everything, but the situation didn’t improve and I have to move forward.
“It was the most difficult race week so far probably.
“Qualifying was okay but other than that this race weekend was horrible.
“Hopefully this is the last time we end up like this, and hopefully from now on we can fight in a higher position.”
His team-mate Pierre Gasly, involved in an incident with Vettel for which he was penalised, finished the race in 15th place.
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