A “disappointed” Fernando Alonso slammed the Australian GP stewards’ decision to sanction him for “potentially dangerous” driving, insisting his fight with George Russell was “hard but fair racing”.
The incident unfolded in the closing stages of Sunday’s race at Albert Park as Alonso and Russell battled for P6.
Fearing Russell's advantage with DRS in the upcoming zones, Alonso explained that he braked earlier at Turn 6 on the penultimate lap in a bid to boost his edge on the straight.
The unexpected maneuver caught Russell off guard, the Briton losing control of his Mercedes in the turbulent air behind Alonso's Aston Martin.
After reviewing evidence and hearing Alonso's explanation, the stewards deemed the Spaniard’s driving as "potentially dangerous" and issued a drive-through penalty, immediately converted to a 20-second time penalty.
This demoted Alonso from sixth to eighth in the final standings and thoroughly frustrated the F1 veteran.
"George caught me quickly, I knew that he was coming," Alonso explained. "Then he was in DRS range for five or six laps, so I was just doing qualifying laps to stay ahead.
"I wanted to maximise my exit speed from Turn 6 to defend against him. That's what any racing driver would do, and I didn't feel it was dangerous.
“It's disappointing to get a penalty from the stewards for what was hard but fair racing. Still, I'm glad that George is okay. It was not nice to see his car in the middle of the track."
LAP 58/58
Big crash for George Russell
The Mercedes driver radioes to say he's okay.
The race will finish behind the Virtual Safety Car #F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/SjooKJ8Y5v
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 24, 2024
Later in the day, Alonso reiterated his view on social media, calling into question once again the stewards’ judgment.
"A bit surprised by a penalty at the end of the race regarding how we should approach the corners or how we should drive the race cars," he wrote.
"At no point do we want to do anything wrong at these speeds. I believe that without gravel on that corner, on any other corner in the world, we will never be even investigated.
"In F1, with over 20 years of experience, with epic duels like Imola 2005/2006/ Brazil 2023, changing racing lines, sacrificing entry speed to have good exits from corners is part of the art of motorsport.
"We never drive at 100% every race lap and every corner, we save fuel, tires, brakes, so being responsible for not making every lap the same is a bit surprising."
While Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack was equally confounded by the stewards’ call, he said that he would not appeal the decision.
"It was surprising to see him drop to P8 with the post-race penalty, but we have to accept the decision," he said.
"This will not distract from a positive day. We have scored 12 championship points.
"Full credit to both drivers, who converted our grid positions into points, making use of two very different tyre strategies."
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