Alpine CEO, Laurent Rossi has admitted that following their antics during the Interlagos Sprint, Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon were warned that they would be substituted.

The pair clashed twice during the Sprint, the first time when Alonso attempted to make a move on his teammate at Turn 4 on the opening lap, and again when the Spaniard made a move on the run up to the hill to the start/finish straight.

Alonso was handed a 5s time penalty for the first clash, which the stewards deemed as being dangerous, and though the second clash went unpunished the two-time world champion incurred damage that necessitated a costly pit stop.

With Ocon's car damaged in the earlier clash it meant that the pair finished 17th (Ocon) and 18th, thereby costing the French outfit valuable points in its battle with McLaren for fourth.

"We are extremely disappointed with today's result, which has put us in a worse position on the grid for tomorrow's main race," said team boss Otmar Szafnauer following the Sprint. "We are in a very tight and competitive championship fight for fourth place in the championship; an objective for which over 1,000 staff are tirelessly working and striving towards.

"Frankly, both Esteban and Fernando must do a better job to compliment the fantastic efforts of everyone in the team by avoiding on-track incidents and compromising the entire team's performance.

"Today, both drivers have let the team down. I expect more from them tomorrow where we must do everything we can to recover some points from the weekend for the Championship."

As it happened, Alonso drove a superb race to claim 5th, while Ocon finished 8th on a day neither McLaren made it to the flag.

However, Alpine CEO, Rossi has revealed that in the aftermath of the Sprint both drivers were warned that further incidents would see them substituted.

"I told the drivers, as long as they behave as adults, I'll treat them as adults so they can race until the team is worse off, which happened last weekend," Rossi told reporters.

"I reminded them of our contract, and I reminded them of the fact that I have plenty of drivers that are longing to race in their place. And it would be a shame to finish the year with two other drivers, even if it costs me a lot.

"They took their responsibility and they did a brilliant job. So, it happens to everyone, I guess, this is what makes those drivers incredible champions. They have this killer instinct and sometimes it goes a bit too far. So, that's my role as well, to bring them back into a better space."

Asked if team orders were imposed as a result of the Sprint, Rossi replied: "Oh, no. We told them that, if we have to, they'll have to follow the orders - but there were no team orders.

"We had two different strategies, we could not predict which one could yield the better outcome because it depends on the race conditions. But based on the pace, and the circumstances, we told them that, if we have to, we will impose swaps or things like that and they would have to comply - which they did. Which is perfect."

Of course, both Alonso and Ocon have history, especially the Frenchman when it comes to battling teammate.

Consequently, one imagines that Messrs Szafnauer and Rossi will have their work cut out next season with the arrival of Pierre Gasly.

Check out our Sunday gallery from Yas Marina here.