Alonso vs Perez in Brazil: the F1 fight other drivers can learn from

There was added poignancy, too, that the pair should find themselves in a conjoined ‘hard but fair’ battle on the same weekend Alonso and old foe Esteban Ocon should collide in odd circumstances during qualifying for the Saturday sprint race. You’ll recall how the Aston Martin was touring through Turn 3 when the Alpine clipped its front left and slammed into the barrier on the outside.

Ocon branded Alonso a “f**king idiot” in the heat of the moment, and didn’t exactly temper that view after a joint trip to the stewards. It was “not true” that he’d lost control, claimed the fiery Frenchman. The crossed-up moment on the kerbs was merely a “correction” – but even so, it seemed fatuous to say the accident wouldn’t have happened if Alonso hadn’t been there. How exactly did he expect the green car to vanish? Where exactly was he supposed to be? Yes, Alonso appeared to move his steering wheel slightly left in the moment, but there was plenty of room on the inside – had Ocon not required more because of his “correction.”

“Yes, I heard what that guy said,” responded Alonso, conspicuously avoided his ex-team-mate’s name. Yet another example added to the roll-call of drivers for whom the term ‘mate’ can never be used accurately just because they shared a garage.

“He’s still very immature and hasn’t changed his way of seeing things,” snapped Alonso. “But hey, there are other things that don’t change either. He came out behind me like last year and stayed there, like last year.”

Meow. But in an increasingly controlled and vanilla world, it’s again refreshing to see a spark between two drivers – as long as it doesn’t fan flames that get out of hand.

It’s a coincidence both examples should involve Alonso, yet at the same time hardly a surprise. The guy always tends to stoke emotion, in one way or the other! Of course, under the microscope of the modern era, a feud is manna for clicks and views – but the Alonso/Perez exchange was the one I’d prefer to remember. Echoes perhaps of how René Arnoux responded to the most celebrated duel of them all, and one that was far more on the edge – and arguably a degree or two over it – compared to what we saw in Brazil on Sunday.

I once asked Arnoux to reflect on Dijon 1979 and F1’s most famous third place, in the wake of his duel with Gilles Villeneuve. “Dijon, I’ve said before, was only possible between Gilles and me because he was my best friend in F1 and I was his,” said the little Frenchman, between mouthfuls of an English hamburger that was never going to be as rare as he wanted it… “I had a lot of respect for him, and he had a lot for me. It was dangerous at that speed and Dijon was narrow, it was not easy. He had a big problem with the tyres and I had a big problem with the fuel pressure. And I knew I had this difficulty, but I tried to finish second and not third. Dijon has a big bend at the top of the circuit and my engine would stop for two seconds, then come back again! At the flag the difference was too big to pass, even with the turbocharger. I try, I try, I try, but…

“A lot of people still speak to me about Dijon. Someone stopped me in Paris and said it was the best duel in F1. ‘Do you want to see it on my phone?’ he asked. ‘No, I know it very well!’ I replied…”

On Monday, Wattie recalled that back in those days he thought nothing about popping into a rival team to catch up with a mate. No phones then to worry about. F1 was free and easy compared to now, and he can’t help but wonder if the “subjugation” modern F1 drivers face in the modern era thwarts not only some of the enjoyment they can take from a grand prix weekend, but also the relationships they have with each other.

Clearly, there are still friendships, as Martin Brundle noted recently, more now than at any recent time he can remember. But given the intrusive scrutiny those in the public eye must always be aware of, we rarely catch a glimpse of genuine camaraderie. Most is kept strictly behind closed doors, because it has to be. As Wattie said: “Maybe there is some humanity and camaraderie still left in F1. But f**k me, you have to look for it!”