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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 July 26)

PDriverTeamPoints
1Andrea AntonelliMercedes219
2Lewis HamiltonFerrari169
3George RussellMercedes160
4Charles LeclercFerrari138
5Lando NorrisMcLaren128
6Max VerstappenRed Bull109
7Oscar PiastriMcLaren92
8Isack HadjarRed Bull68
9Liam LawsonRacing Bulls43
10Pierre GaslyAlpine42
11Arvid LindbladRacing Bulls23
12Franco ColapintoAlpine19
13Oliver BearmanHaas18
14Gabriel BortoletoAudi10
15Carlos SainzWilliams6
16Alexander AlbonWilliams5
17Esteban OconHaas3
18Nico HülkenbergAudi2
19Fernando AlonsoAston Martin1
20Sergio PerezCadillac0
21Lance StrollAston Martin0
22Valtteri BottasCadillac0
PTeamPoints
1Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team379
         Poles: 10       Sprint wins: 3       GP wins: 8
2Scuderia Ferrari HP307
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 2
3McLaren Mastercard F1 Team220
         Poles: 1       Sprint wins: 1       GP wins: 1
4Oracle Red Bull Racing177
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
5Visa Cash App Racing Bulls66
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
6BWT Alpine F1 Team61
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
7TGR Haas F1 Team21
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
8Audi Revolut F1 Team12
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
9Atlassian Williams F1 Team11
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
10Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team1
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
11Cadillac F1 Team0
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0

2026 MotoGP Championship Standings (as of August 9)

PRiderTeamPoints
1Jorge MartinAprilia Racing240
2Marco BezzecchiAprilia Racing209
3Ai OguraTrackhouse Racing203
4Marc MarquezDucati Lenovo200
5Fabio Di GiannantonioPertamina Enduro VR46199
6Raul FernandezTrackhouse Racing184
7Pedro AcostaRed Bull KTM163
8Francesco BagnaiaDucati Lenovo143
9Alex MarquezGresini Racing106
10Luca MariniHonda HRC Castrol86
11Fermin AldeguerGresini Racing76
12Enea BastianiniKTM Tech376
13Brad BinderRed Bull KTM72
14Fabio QuartararoMonster Energy Yamaha55
15Diogo MoreiraPro Honda LCR54
16Franco MorbidelliPertamina Enduro VR4653
17Johann ZarcoCastrol Honda LCR34
18Joan MirHonda HRC Castrol29
19Jack MillerPramac Racing23
20Alex RinsMonster Energy Yamaha21
21Toprak RazgatlıoğluPramac Racing14
22Maverick ViñalesKTM Tech310
23Iker LecuonaGresini Racing9
24Augusto FernandezYamaha Factory Racing6
25Pol EspargaroKTM Tech33
26Jonas FolgerKTM Tech30
27Michele PirroGresini Racing0
28Cal CrutchlowCastrol Honda LCR0
29Lorenzo SavadoriAprilia Racing0
PTeamPoints
1Aprilia Racing449
         Poles: 4       Sprint wins: 3       GP wins: 5
2SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team387
         Poles: 1       Sprint wins: 2       GP wins: 2
3Ducati Lenovo Team343
         Poles: 4       Sprint wins: 5       GP wins: 3
4Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team252
         Poles: 2       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 1
5Red Bull KTM Factory Racing235
         Poles: 1       Sprint wins: 1       GP wins: 0
6BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP191
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 1       GP wins: 1
7Honda HRC Castrol115
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
8Red Bull KTM Tech389
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
9Honda LCR MotoGP88
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
10Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP76
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0
11Prima Pramac Racing37
         Poles: 0       Sprint wins: 0       GP wins: 0