NORRIS THE VICTIM OF GASLY-ALONSO CLASH

Pierre Gasly tried to leave Lando Norris room before their safety car-triggering crash on lap 40, but he struggled to steer due to damage inflicted from contact with Fernando Alonso.

Gasly and Norris, who was running 14th, made contact while exiting Turn 8, which caused the Mclaren to hit the wall on the left-hand side of the circuit. That came after Gasly had run wide at Turn 7, which permitted Mick Schumacher and Kevin Magnussen to pass before Norris also tried to get ahead. The stewards noted the incident but took no action.

The Alphatauri racer retired soon after and explained that his car was already ailing from a tag from Alonso on the previous lap when the Alpine tried to dive up the inside at Turn 1.

“We tried to do one more lap to see if we could continue, and the car was too damaged,” said Gasly. “I could not even stay on track or turn left anymore. Then on our last lap, I was going slow after Turn 7… I was trying to turn right to give room, and Norris came and clipped my front-left tyre.”

Alonso took full responsibility for his role, copping a five-second penalty before offering an apology.

Daniel Ricciardo, meanwhile, brought home the remaining Mclaren in 11th, but was classified 13th after the imposition of a 5s penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.