Over the weekend, Spain’s Madring track welcomed Formula 1 back to Madrid after a 45-year absence. But Sunday evening would be anything but nostalgic for Spanish F1 fans after the Iberian nation’s top two drivers, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz, were almost involved in a crash and then ended up trading accusations.

The incident that ignited the feud between Alonso and Sainz came when they almost collided in the first half of the race. Sainz had also made contact with two other drivers when pushing for an aggressive start.

“He squeezed me into the wall. (At) the start, he crashed into two people, now he squeezed me into the wall on breaking,” an unhappy Alonso was heard telling his race engineer on the team radio.

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The incident with Alonso in particular earned Sainz a five-second penalty. The Williams driver’s race ended early due to an issue with his car. Alonso, who also sustained damage on his Aston Martin, dragged his car into 17th spot in a home race to forget.

Careful, guys! 😳

Fernando Alonso wasn't too impressed after contact with fellow Spaniard Carlos Sainz! 😬#F1 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/7qfsuBL4BX

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 13, 2026

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The Spaniards continued to trade barbs well after the heat-of-the-moment had passed.

“At 340 kph (210 mph), I’d rather no one squeeze me against the wall,” Alonso hissed. “I’d rather be alive at the end of the race.”

He said people were asking him about “the touch between the two Spaniards,” but “I didn’t touch anyone, I was a centimeter from the wall and someone came and sent me into the wall at 340 kph.”

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Sainz defended himself saying: “There isn’t much to say. It’s the nature of the corner when you turn.”

“The nature of that corner is always going to cause these kinds of incidents, because there’s only room for one car.”

Sainz, in turn, complained that it was Alonso “complaining on the radio” that got race stewards to punish him.

Alonso disagreed.

“Unfortunately, Carlos hit me and it meant we had to pit to replace the front wing. There was a penalty given out so that’s the decision taken by the FIA and I think it was correct,” Alonso said through Aston Martin.

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The Spanish GP was back in the Madrid region for the first time since it took place at Jarama in 1981. Organizers expected a total attendance of nearly 350,000 spectators throughout the weekend in the Spanish capital.

Spanish King Felipe VI was among those on hand for the race at the new Madring urban track.