ALONSO CALLS 33% OF THE F1 GRID 'LOW QUALITY'

Fernando Alonso didn't hold back after a lap-one collision with Alex Albon torpedoed his United States Grand Prix. The two-time champion blamed Albon for contact that stripped his Aston Martin's left-hand bargeboard and left him nursing "half a car" through the rest of the afternoon in Austin. Alonso's verdict: the bottom third of the grid suffers from "very low quality" drivers, with Albon Exhibit A.

The incident went unpenalized. Alonso soldiered to 16th, a lap down, after a slow second stop to replace his front wing. He insisted it was "by far" his best race of the season and claimed he'd have scored points without the damage—a pointed jab at Williams, which sits five points ahead of Aston Martin in the constructors' battle for ninth.

Albon shrugged it off, likening their scrap to a Mustang-versus-Mini historic race at Goodwood. He called Fernando "strong but fair" and said he had "a good amount of fun." The diplomacy won't erase the lap-one mess that cost both drivers a chance at points.