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SUZUKA, JAPAN – Fernando Alonso’s defensive move against George Russell at the Australian Grand Prix remains in the spotlight after a steward’s penalty divided opinion among Formula 1 drivers.
On the penultimate lap of the race in Melbourne, Russell was closing in on Alonso for sixth place, but crashed at turn six. Russell’s Mercedes bounced off the barriers, tipped to one side and ended up in the middle of the track, sparking panic calls from the circuit. Brits support the red flag.
Telemetry from Alonso’s car showed that compared to his approach to the fast right-hander on each lap so far, he let off the gas 100 meters early and then braked and downshifted too much, causing I had to accelerate again to take the corner. This created a large difference in finishing speed, created dirty air, and reduced Russell’s downforce. Stewards deemed this deliberate and tactical action to be a breach of the regulations as ‘potentially dangerous driving’. Alonso was given a 20 second penalty, dropping him from sixth to eighth.
Alonso and Aston Martin expressed surprise and disappointment at the decision, but the Spaniard did not plan to appeal or take any action to overturn the penalty, which dropped him from sixth to eighth in the final standings.
But the penalty remained the center of discussion throughout Thursday’s media day at Suzuka, with drivers sharing their thoughts on what kind of precedent it sets for future on-track battles.
“Canned insects”
Russell admitted he was “completely caught off guard” by Alonso’s move, and looked up from where he had changed the steering wheel switch to realize he was “in Fernando’s gearbox and it was a bit slow”. He said he noticed it. And the next thing I know, I’m inside the wall. ”
If the penalty had not been awarded, Russell felt it would have “really opened up a can of worms”, especially regarding etiquette when defending territory. “Can I brake on the straight?” Russell thought. “Am I allowed to slow down, change gears, accelerate, do anything semi-erratic?”
Russell said things with Alonso were “not personal” and revealed they ran into each other at a coffee shop in Monaco after returning from Australia but did not discuss it. Max Verstappen, who was sitting next to Russell at the press conference, joked: “Did they test his brakes there or not?”
Alonso 🆚 Russell: View from the boat #F1 #AusGP pic.twitter.com/1nOxiMEdkD
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 26, 2024
Alonso was very cautious in this regard. He repeated his post-race line that it was “absolutely surprising” that he had been penalized, and said it would not change his approach to the race. “There is no obligation to do 57 laps on the same track,” Alonso said. “We probably had a one-time penalty, but it will never be applied again. It was for us, we accept it and accept it.”
Stewards said in the bulletin that awarded Alonso the penalty that they “did not take into account the impact of the crash” when handing down the sanction, but Alonso had his doubts. If it’s a course like Abu Dhabi with lots of run-off areas. , Russell would have returned to the track and attempted to overtake again on the next lap, rather than ending the race. “There will be no problems,” Alonso said.
His final thoughts on the penalty were that its harshness (translating a drive-through into a 20-second time penalty) was “strange” before asking reporters to move away from the topic. Ta.
Draw a line
Alonso’s Aston Martin teammate Lance Stroll gave a more direct opinion, calling the penalty “ridiculous” given there was no contact between the cars. “Where is the line between driving unnecessarily slowly and just driving strategically?” said Stroll, who actually benefited from the penalty and moved from seventh to sixth. “I think there have been instances in the past where players slowed down or tried to avoid DRS in order to receive DRS, but those players were not penalized or anything like that.”
Drivers practice defensive techniques from the early days of go-karts, learning where to position the car and which corners are best for attacking or slowing. A good example of tactical defense was last year in Singapore, when Carlos Sainz deliberately slowed down to give Lando Norris a DRS, which helped prevent the approaching Mercedes cars behind him. Defending well isn’t just about pushing as flat as possible.
Norris made it clear that Alonso did not deserve a penalty. He said it was “weird” and “too extreme” to slow down like he did, but he didn’t think it was “a long way from being considered a brake test”, and didn’t think it would be “anywhere close to being considered a brake test”, and would require drivers behind him to felt responsible for reacting to the brake response. The car in front is doing it.
“I think if George had been close for a long time and suddenly Fernando floated up in the middle of the straight and George suddenly had to change direction or something, I think that would be a little bit more of an issue,” Norris said. . “George didn’t have to do anything other than brake five meters earlier and the result would have been different. That’s also up to George. When he’s a driver, he reacts to everything around him. I have to.”
Russell’s car ended up stranded on the track after a late-race crash (Paul Klock/AFP via Getty Images)
Throughout his long and successful F1 career, Alonso has built a reputation for unconventional approaches to cornering his opponents. Norris summed it up as “Fernando being Fernando”, a sentiment echoed by Daniel Ricciardo. “That’s Fernando. He’s cunning, so it’s okay.”
What constitutes crossing the line when defending is very subjective, especially with different stewards from race to race. Norris felt that while in the past it had been clear to drivers what they could and could not do, “that’s not the case now.”
Charles Leclerc disagreed, saying that such tactics were “what we as drivers should do” but that Alonso’s actions “went too far and should have been punished”.
“I think it’s clear what we can and cannot do,” Leclerc said. “You can always try to write it in a better way to make it more understandable. But I believe that common sense is the way forward.
“You’ll never be able to write into the rules all possible scenarios in every situation, and even if this particular scenario isn’t written into the rules, I don’t think anyone deserves a penalty, especially the driver. There may be situations in which the rule is very obvious. Sometimes you have to use common sense and that was one of them. ”
Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg said he was “not very impressed” with Alonso’s actions, but that it was not because of his actions, but because of where he did it. Turn 6 in Melbourne is a blind he corner that drivers pass at over 165 mph. This means that it is difficult for drivers approaching quickly to react to anything in front of them.
“It’s a blind exit. If for some reason the flag system or someone was delayed, one of us would have T-boned George,” Hulkenberg said.
“That tactic is very common in F1, but to do it in that particular corner, at that speed, on a blind exit, it was the wrong corner and created a very dangerous situation.”
Turn 6 discussion
One thing many drivers agreed on was that the layout of Turn 6 at Albert Park needed to be considered, particularly the placement of the barrier on the left side of the track. Russell’s accident is the third in two years where a car has bounced back onto the circuit after a crash, following similar crashes involving Alex Albon last year and Dennis Hauger in this year’s F2 race.
The matter will be discussed at the drivers’ briefing after Friday’s second free practice. Stroll joked that he was afraid of the inevitable lengthy discussions that would result from the grid’s division.
“It’s been too long,” he said. “But I’m sure there’s a long list of explanations.”
What about Alonso? He is happy to move on, preferring to focus on upgrading Aston Martin’s car at Suzuka.
“There’s a lot of work on Friday nights,” he said. “I will not participate in driver’s briefings any longer than necessary.”
(Fernando Alonso and George Russell top photo: Paul Crock/AFP via Getty Images)
