Fernando Alonso laments “disappointing” 20 seconds penalty for dangerous manoeuvre that caused George Russell crash 

Fernando Alonso ended the Australian GP in eighth place.

Fernando Alonso laments “disappointing” 20 seconds penalty for dangerous manoeuvre that caused George Russell crash 

Fernando Alonso and George Russell (Via: Imago)

The Australian GP proved to be a weekend to forget for George Russell. Towards the end of the last lap of the race, the Brit got into a crash but luckily was unharmed. The Aston Martin driver, Fernando Alonso, who was somewhat responsible for the crash was penalized for the same. 

During the last few laps, Fernando Alonso was trying to maximize his speed in turn six, but surprisingly, he braked. Russell with DRS behind him got caught in his dirty air and had a huge crash. The Brit got out of his car without facing any serious injuries. After the stewards analyzed the situation, they gave a 20-second penalty to Alonso.

YouTube video
It’s disappointing to get a penalty from the stewards for what was hard but fair racing. Still, I’m glad that George is okay. It was not nice to see his car in the middle of the track.
Fernando Alonso said in an interview with autosport.com

The Spaniard was not all happy with the stewards’ decision as he dropped down from sixth place to eighth in the final standings. Alonso believes there was nothing dangerous about his way of driving against Russell. According to him, he did, what every driver would’ve done as a racing driver. Later, the 42-year-old went on social media and expressed his astonishment on the same. 

FS Video

George Russell had an outing to forget in Melbourne

As mentioned earlier, George Russell had a last-lap crash at the Australian GP. Russell’s car was seen going off track and hitting the wall before it bounced and landed in the middle of the track.

George Russell
George Russell (Via: Imago, X/lights out, screenshot)
I was half a second behind Fernando 100 metres before the corner and suddenly he came towards me extremely quick. I was right on his gearbox. I don’t know if he’s got a problem or not. We’re off to the stewards so that’s a bit bizarre in a circumstance like this.
George Russell said in an interview with Sky F1

Alonso surprised Russell by making him close the distance to him quite quickly, but the latter saw the maneuver as erratic. He lost control and slid out of the corner. Russell did admit that the way he went off is definitely on him and that he is disappointed at everything that went down. 

In case you missed it: