Editor's Desk: Alonso was just joking folks!

For anyone who watched the race coverage and the post-race interview, in the Zandvoort Parc Ferme, in the context of the moment it was clear Alonso was joking and meant nothing malicious with what he said.

But the next day, the surprise was that several media outlets reported what the Spaniard said without explaining that he was kidding and making it sound like he was seriously doubting his safety had he had a go at Max during the race.

As a reminder, Alonso said with a broad smile: "I did think about trying a move in the last restart but then I thought maybe I cannot exit the circuit so I stayed calm in second."

Now we all know Alonso is no angel and has had his fair share of controversial quotes and behaviour over the course of his long Formula 1 career, and before anyone jumps to any conclusions, I am not an Alonso fanboy.

But in this instance, I find it strange that Fernando's quotes have been taken out of context and used with the aim of either stirring controversy and/or seeking clicks, or even more...

Alonso and Verstappen have always expressed mutual respect, and have shown that on track in the few times when they raced closely, and what the former said in Zandvoort was simply meant to be tongue in cheek.

I recall when Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton fought for the win at the 2019 Italian Grand Prix, when things got heated between the two on track, with Mercedes pushing for the Monegasque to be penalized.

Leclerc got away with it, and Toto Wolff also said something similar at the time, joking that Mercedes would've needed police escort to leave Monza had the Ferrari driver been punished. I do not recall anything at the time reported about Wolff in an "inaccurate manner".

Again this is not an Alonso-defending column, and I more than anyone have always criticized him when he was too political or toxic, but recently, we have been witnessing a more relaxed Fernando who is doing a brilliant job behind the wheel of an F1 car at the age of 42.

So isn't it better to celebrate the Aston Martin driver for the performance he is showing these days, instead of showing him in a bad light?

Furthermore, doesn't pushing this narrative also give a bad impression about the Dutch fans?

Even more, in our Alonso story following the race in Zandvoort, Alonso insisted he wouldn't have backed off had he got the chance to attack Verstappen.

That's what he said in his team's race report: "I cannot lie, I thought about passing Max [Verstappen] and if I was side by side with him I wouldn’t have lifted off, but I did not have the full chance".

In closing, Alonso was joking, it was actually funny in the moment, so let's just keep it there...