Fernando Alonso believes his defense against George Russell in the closing stages of the Australian Grand Prix was “something a racing driver could do”.
Telemetry showed that the Aston Martin driver slowed down before Turn 6 on the penultimate lap while being chased by Russell, and was given a post-race drive-through penalty (additional 20 seconds) for “potentially dangerous driving.” Conversion) was imposed. .
Fernando Alonso reacts to FIA stewards’ verdict in Australia
Although there was no contact between the cars, the stewards’ verdict was that Russell “was caught off guard by Alonso’s erratic handling, which caused him to close the following distance at an unusually high rate of speed, resulting in reduced downforce at the apex.” It is explained that he conveyed this belief. He lost control on the exit of the corner and crashed on the exit of the corner. ”
The stewards agreed and gave him 3 penalty points on his superlicense, imposed a 20 second penalty and demoted him from 6th to 8th in classification.
“On the last lap, George caught me right away. I knew he was coming, but at that time he was in the DRS for five or six laps, so I did a qualifying lap to stay in front. That was it,” Alonso said after the race.
“I wanted to maximize my exit speed out of Turn 6 to prevent him. That’s what any racing driver would do, and I didn’t feel it was dangerous.
“It’s disappointing to receive a penalty from the stewards after a hard but fair race.
“Still, I’m glad George was okay. It wasn’t a good feeling to see his car in the middle of the track.
“It wasn’t the best weekend for us in terms of pace, but our race was executed well, with good strategy, great pit stops and great reliability.
“I think we probably scored more points today than we deserved for our pace, but we’ll take it.”
Alonso expanded on the topic on social media, writing about X: “Thanks to double the team points and better race pace than the rest of the weekend, we were able to cross the finish line in 6th and 7th place.
“I was a little surprised that I was given a penalty at the end of the race for the way I approached corners and the way I drove my race car. I don’t want to do anything bad at this speed under any circumstances.
“I believe that if there is no gravel in that corner, you will never be investigated, even if you are in any other corner of the world.” There are epic duels like this, changing racing lines and sacrificing approach speed to successfully exit corners is part of the art of motorsport.
“We don’t drive every race lap and every corner at 100% to save on fuel, tires and brakes, so it’s a little surprising that we’re responsible for not making every lap the same.” We should accept that, think about Japan, pick up the pace and fight for the top positions. Thank you, team!”
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Team principal Mike Clack added: “Fernando’s race benefited from the virtual safety car. We were surprised to see him drop to eighth due to the post-race penalty, but we have to accept this decision.” Ta.
“This didn’t stop us from having a positive day. The voice from the pit wall was spot on and the whole team’s operation was great.”
As for Russell himself, he accepted responsibility for the accident and did not want to blame Alonso for testing his brakes before meeting the stewards, but said he was “completely exposed” by Alonso’s movements in front of him. admitted.
“It’s really disappointing to end the race in that way,” he wrote on his X account.
“On entering the corner I was completely caught up by the car in front and lost points for the car and for the team. In the end we weren’t fast enough this weekend but we’ll come back even stronger right.”
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