Sprint Shootout for the São Paulo Grand Prix was red flagged after Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso collided at the end of SQ1. With Alonso in 11th and Ocon in 16th and the danger zone, the Alpine driver set off on his final flying lap but had a snap of oversteer while rounding Turn 3. The jink right led to Ocon collecting the left front of Alonso's Aston Martin, with the Frenchman being spat into the barrier on the outside. Ocon's car suffered severe damage to the right rear and floor - meaning the team is in a race against time to get the A523 fixed for the Sprint race at 14:00 local. Alonso limped home to the pits with severe damage to his car, as the team set about trying to get him out for SQ2. With just 33 seconds on the clock when the red flag was deployed, the session was not restarted with Ocon, Lance Stroll, Zhou Guanyu, Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant all eliminated. Carlos Sainz topped the segment for Ferrari. There was a lengthy delay to the start of SQ2 with the need to repair and rebuild the tyre barrier that Ocon hit.
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Replays show Ocon making contact with Alonso Alonso subsequently picks up a puncture, but is able to return to the pits #BrazilGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/yl7IyDDbsU — Formula 1 (@F1) November 4, 2023
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