Alonso penalized to eighth for ‘abnormal’ change of driving style

Fernando Alonso has been handed a post-race penalty for an “abnormal” change in his driving approach during the Australian Grand Prix, but was not found to be at fault for George Russell’s heavy crash.

In the penultimate lap of the Melbourne race, Russell, running closely behind Alonso, was fighting for seventh place. As they approached Turn 6, the Mercedes lost control at the rear, went through the gravel trap, and hit the barrier at Turn 7 before rolling and coming to a stop on its side.

The race eventually ended under the Virtual Safety Car, with Carlos Sainz taking the win ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc, helping Ferrari capitalize on Max Verstappen’s early retirement and secure a one-two finish.

Shortly after the chequered flag, both Alonso and Russell were summoned by the FIA, with the governing body stating it would investigate the incident that occurred towards the end of the race. Mercedes believed Alonso’s throttle lift, braking, and downshift at Turn 6 was different from previous laps, which allowed Russell to close up faster and potentially be affected by the Aston Martin’s wake, leading to the collision.

After a lengthy investigation, the FIA Stewards panel, headed by former F1 driver Johnny Herbert, determined that Alonso had changed his driving style in an “abnormal” manner. Article 33.4 of the Sporting Regulations states: “At no time may a car be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person.” As a result, Alonso was handed a drive-through penalty, which, as the race had finished, was converted to a 20-second time addition, dropping him from sixth to eighth place, behind team-mate Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda of Red Bull.

The stewards’ decision read: “Telemetry data showed that Alonso lifted more than 100 meters earlier than he had done when entering this corner in the race. He also applied a small amount of brake (not enough to be the main cause of deceleration of his car) in a place where he normally does not brake and also downshifted in a place where he normally does not do so. He then upshifted again, accelerated towards the corner and then lifted again in the corner.”

“Alonso explained that although his plan was to brake earlier, he got it slightly wrong and had to take extra measures to regain speed. Nevertheless, his actions caused a relatively large and unusual closing speed between the two cars.”

However, the stewards were unable to determine whether Alonso’s actions were deliberate to cause Russell’s crash, nor could they hold him responsible for the dirty air that ultimately led to the Mercedes’ accident.

“In particular, the stewards did not consider the consequences of the accident. Furthermore, the stewards did not have sufficient information to establish whether Alonso’s actions were intentional to cause trouble for Russell, or as he told the stewards, he just wanted to get a better exit speed out of the corner,” the report stated.

“Was Alonso entitled to try a different approach to the corner? – Yes. Was Alonso responsible for the dirty air that ultimately caused the accident? – No.”

“However, regardless of his intentions, was it abnormal for Alonso to do something – such as lift, brake, downshift and all the other elements of that move – more than 100 meters earlier than previously, and much earlier than was necessary to brake for the corner? – Yes.”

“According to his own description of the events, he did, and in the opinion of the stewards, given how fast that part of the track is, what he did and his driving style was, at the very least, ‘potentially dangerous’.”

Alonso was disappointed with the stewards’ decision, believing he had done nothing dangerous.

“George got very close to me, and I knew he was there, following me for five or six laps with DRS, so I just did a quali lap to stay in front,” Alonso said after dropping down the classification. “I wanted to maximize my exit speed from Turn 6 to defend against his attack. That’s what any racing driver would do, and I didn’t feel it was dangerous.”

“To get a penalty from the stewards for such a hard but fair fight is disappointing. But I’m glad George is okay. Seeing his car stopped in the middle of the track wasn’t nice.”

Later, Alonso expressed his views on social media. He wrote: “Surprised by the post-race penalty for how we should approach corners or drive the cars. At these speeds, we never want to get anything wrong. I believe if that corner didn’t have gravel or any other corner in the world, we wouldn’t have been investigated.”

“In my 20+ years in F1, through battles like Imola 2005 and 2006, Brazil 2023, changing the racing line, sacrificing entry speed for a better exit is part of the art of racing. We never drive every lap and every corner at 100%, we save fuel, tires, brakes, so to be surprised for not making every lap identical is a bit strange.”

Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack was also surprised by the penalty but confirmed the team would not appeal.

“Seeing him [Alonso] being penalized to eighth after the race was unexpected, but we have to accept the decision. It doesn’t affect our points today. We scored 12 points. Thanks to our two drivers, who used very different tire strategies, we converted our starting positions into points.”