Alonso: ‘Strange’ Melbourne penalty won’t alter F1 driving style

Fernando Alonso says the “strange” penalty handed to him by the Australian GP stewards for potentially dangerous driving won’t encourage him to change his driving style.

Alonso was hit with a post-race 20-second time penalty for braking earlier than usual at Albert Park’s Turn 6 while he was battling the Mercedes of George Russell.

The Aston Martin driver was seeking to secure a clean exit and potentially force Russell to take a wider line.

But it all went wrong for the Briton who was caught out by his rival’s unexpected maneuver, causing the Mercedes to lose grip and crash into the outside, the severely damaged W15 coming to rest in the middle of the track.

While expressing surprise at the penalty, Alonso downplayed the incident as a unique situation. He emphasized that his aggressive defense wasn't a regular occurrence and he won't alter his overall racing style moving forward.

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Asked if he felt that the rules of defensive driving were clear as far as he was concerned, Alonso said: “It was clear. And I think it's still clear.

“It was a little bit surprising, the penalty in Melbourne.

“There is nothing we can do, we have to accept it and move on and concentrate on here. But I think it will not change much on how we drive and how we approach racing.

“There is no obligation to drive 57 laps in the same way. Sometimes we get a slower pace, to save fuel, to save tyres, to save battery.

“And sometimes we go slow into corners, or into some sectors of the track, to give the DRS to the car behind because that will be a useful tool if the second car behind is at a faster pace.

“All those things are completely normal. And it was, it is and it will be forever in motorsports. So we had one penalty, probably a one-off, that we will never apply ever again.”

Alonso believed that the outcome of the incident – Russell’s crash – weighed heavily on the stewards’ perception of the move, although the officials made it a point in their report to underscore that the consequences of the maneuver had not been a factor in their ruling.

“If he was in Abu Dhabi with a run off area of asphalt or whatever, I think George will rejoin the track a few metres after that and will try to have a go on me on the following lap, or the following straight. And it will not be any problem,” confidently argued the F1 veteran.

Alonso also suggested that the configuration of Turn 6 at Albert Park and the specific positioning of the barriers at the corner warranted an investigation and likely a change.

“It is not the safest corner at the moment on that track,” he said.

“We saw an accident last year with Alex [Albon] in the race, and this year in free practice where he damaged the chassis.

“Also in F2, I think Dennis [Hauger] crashed there as well. George obviously in the race.

“And that's probably for me a more important point to change for next year than what the driver in front of me will be able to do or not do, as long as I don't need to make an avoiding action or whatever to avoid him, which was not the case.

“That was my point after Australia, and still now. I will move on. I don't want to speak too much on that.”

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