Fernando Alonso has criticised the standard of driving towards the back of the grid after tangling with Alex Albon during the United States Grand Prix.

The Aston Martin driver said starting towards the rear always carries risks, and pointed to his clash with Albon as an example.

“When you start at the back, there is always this risk as well,” Alonso said. “The quality of the drivers towards the back of the grid is very low, as we saw today with Alex. We need to improve the car and start a bit higher up.”

The pair made contact when Albon tried to pass Alonso on the inside of turn 11. The clash damaged Alonso’s car and he finished the race 16th, four places lower than he started.

Alonso: Points finish was possible

Alonso, who said that he felt the floor was "completely broken" following the tangle, said he was surprised by their level of performance and that points would have been possible if it was not for the damage.

He said: "I think it was the best race of the year by far for us in terms of competitiveness. The car was very strong in the race good tyre management. We got a lot of damage on lap one with Albon incident, despite that the car was still competitive. So I think we today we could have had maybe a P9, P10 on merit.

“So the best and the strongest race of the year, but ruined in the first lap with the turn 11 incident.”

Alonso was also asked whether Aston Martin’s performance compared with its rivals depended on the circuit. He said it could vary according to how much the power unit affected each track.