Fernando Alonso and George Russell were locked in an epic fight that went right down to the wire at the Australian GP. The Spaniard successfully defended his position until Russell crashed into the barriers. The penultimate lap incident resulted in a double DNF for Mercedes (the first since the 2018 Austrian GP). What followed after the race has divided opinion among drivers.
The FIA hit Alonso with a 20-second time penalty for “potentially dangerous driving”. As the penalty trickled him down from P6 to P8, Lando Norris has come out defending the 42-year-old. Speaking ahead of the Japanese GP (as quoted by Motorsport-Total), the Brit said, “George had time to see what was happening. He [George] should have seen it coming.”
Norris admitted what Alonso did was “strange”. However, he believes a penalty was too harsh. The McLaren driver found Alonso’s tactic against Russell to be “clever” but did not think it was “aggressive” enough to invoke punishment.
Not every driver is of the same opinion, though. Charles Leclerc not only believes Alonso was guilty but also feels he deserved a harsher penalty. Leclerc feels the time penalties are not the most effective a number of times, including the incident in question.
Fernando Alonso took to social media to express his disappointment with the penalty. In a harshly worded post, the 2-time world champion highlighted how common it is for the drivers to vary their pace as per the circumstances of the race.
Fernando Alonso once again defends his actions against George Russell
The Australian GP penalty was one of the talking points of the press conferences at the Japanese GP. Naturally, Fernando Alonso was one of the drivers questioned over the incident. The Aston Martin driver reiterated his stance on drivers slowing down to manage tires and fuel.
However, he is against the idea of challenging the penalty. Alonso believes there is nothing he or the team can do. He did, however, rule out the possibility of drivers changing their driving style. ESPN quoted him as saying, “It was a bit surprising, but nothing we can do. I think it will not change much on how we drive, how we approach racing.”
George Russell, on the other hand, believes the penalty was neither too harsh nor too lenient. The Briton supported the FIA’s action, highlighting how inaction would have set a wrong precedent. Russell also spoke on the danger of the trend trickling down to junior categories, which the penalty may well have curbed.
