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'Young Drivers Need To Learn to Respect The Rules'

Spanish Ferrari driver and current Championship leader Fernando Alonso says that in order to avoid a repeat of the heavy crash at the start of the race at Spa, young drivers need to learn to respect the rules from an early age.

The Spaniard, McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton and Sauber driver Sergio Perez were taken out of Sunday's race in Belgium by Lotus driver Romain Grosjean.

After the lights went out, Grosjean moved to his right, leaving no space for Hamilton to pass, which caused a knock-on effect in which Alonso was one the innocent victims.

Although Alonso retired from the race he was lucky to avoid serious injury as Grosjean's Lotus narrowly missed his helmet when it was airborne.

The double World Champion driver has now called on lower formulae to take a harder line on youngsters who breach the rules in order to best prepare them for F1.

"Certain drivers should try and take fewer risks at the start," Alonso said. "It's a bit of a tendency in the junior formulae, but it would be better, if right from the start of their career, they got used to respecting more strictly the rules relating to behaviour on track."

The Spanish Ferrari driver went into the Belgian Grand Prix with a 40-point lead over Australian Red Bull driver Mark Webber in the Drivers Championship which is now down to just 24 points.

"What happened is a shame because I think a podium was within my reach," the Spaniard said. "But we paid a high price through bad luck and luck owes us now. Let's see what happens in the rest of the season.
"We lost a bit of the advantage we had over Vettel, Mark Webber and Kimi Raikkonen, but we have lost nothing to Hamilton who, given how the McLaren went, is possibly our most dangerous rival. Now we go to Monza, Ferrari's home race. Traditionally we are always strong there so let's hope we can have a nice weekend and give our fans something to cheer about, making up for some of the advantage we lost."

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2026 F1 Championship Standings (as of May 3)

PDriverTeamPoints
1Andrea AntonelliMercedes100
2George RussellMercedes80
3Charles LeclercFerrari59
4Lando NorrisMcLaren51
5Lewis HamiltonFerrari51
6Oscar PiastriMcLaren43
7Max VerstappenRed Bull26
8Oliver BearmanHaas17
9Pierre GaslyAlpine16
10Liam LawsonRacing Bulls10
11Franco ColapintoAlpine7
12Arvid LindbladRacing Bulls4
13Carlos SainzWilliams4
14Isack HadjarRed Bull4
15Gabriel BortoletoAudi2
16Esteban OconHaas1
17Alexander AlbonWilliams1
18Nico HülkenbergAudi0
19Sergio PerezCadillac0
20Fernando AlonsoAston Martin0
21Lance StrollAston Martin0
22Valtteri BottasCadillac0
PTeamPoints
1Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team180
         Poles: 4       Sprint wins: 1       GP wins: 4
2Scuderia Ferrari HP110
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
3McLaren Mastercard F1 Team94
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 1       GP wins: 0
4Oracle Red Bull Racing30
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
5BWT Alpine F1 Team23
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
6TGR Haas F1 Team18
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
7Visa Cash App Racing Bulls14
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
8Atlassian Williams F1 Team5
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
9Audi Revolut F1 Team2
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
10Cadillac F1 Team0
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
11Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team0
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0

2026 MotoGP Championship Standings (as of May 17)

PRiderTeamPoints
1Marco BezzecchiAprilia Racing142
2Jorge MartinAprilia Racing127
3Fabio Di GiannantonioPertamina Enduro VR46116
4Pedro AcostaRed Bull KTM92
5Ai OguraTrackhouse Racing77
6Raul FernandezTrackhouse Racing68
7Alex MarquezGresini Racing67
8Francesco BagnaiaDucati Lenovo63
9Marc MarquezDucati Lenovo57
10Fermin AldeguerGresini Racing47
11Luca MariniHonda HRC Castrol43
12Enea BastianiniKTM Tech339
13Fabio QuartararoMonster Energy Yamaha37
14Brad BinderRed Bull KTM37
15Franco MorbidelliPertamina Enduro VR4636
16Johann ZarcoCastrol Honda LCR34
17Diogo MoreiraPro Honda LCR17
18Joan MirHonda HRC Castrol11
19Alex RinsMonster Energy Yamaha9
20Maverick ViñalesKTM Tech35
21Toprak RazgatlıoğluPramac Racing4
22Augusto FernandezYamaha Factory Racing4
23Jack MillerPramac Racing2
24Michele PirroGresini Racing0
25Lorenzo SavadoriAprilia Racing0
26Jonas FolgerKTM Tech30
PTeamPoints
1Aprilia Racing269
         Poles: 1       Sprint wins: 2       GP wins: 4
2Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team152
         Poles: 2       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 1
3Trackhouse MotoGP Team145
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
4Red Bull KTM Factory Racing129
         Poles: 1       Sprint wins: 1       GP wins: 0
5Ducati Lenovo Team120
         Poles: 2       Sprint wins: 2       GP wins: 0
6BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP114
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 1       GP wins: 1
7Honda HRC Castrol54
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
8Honda LCR MotoGP51
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
9Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP46
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
10Red Bull KTM Tech344
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
11Prima Pramac Racing6
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0