“It is on me,” George Russell takes blame for high speed crash despite Fernando Alonso’s early braking at the Australian GP

George Russell was caught off-guard by Fernando Alonso's early braking maneuver on the final lap of the Australian GP. This led to the Briton crashing out of the race.

“It is on me,” George Russell takes blame for high speed crash despite Fernando Alonso’s early braking at the Australian GP

George Russell (Via IMAGO) George Russell's crash (Via F1) Fernando Alonso (Via IMAGO)

George Russell had a terrible end to the Australian GP. The 26-year-old was having a mediocre weekend at Albert Park until the final lap of the race, when he had a massive high-speed crash. This brought an end to another difficult outing for the Silver Arrows. Thankfully, Russell was unharmed. Now, the British driver has taken responsibility for the incident.

During the final lap of the race, Russell was around half a second behind Fernando Alonso‘s Aston Martin. The Briton made it clear that he took the blame for the incident as he had gone off the track. George Russell claimed that the two-time world champion suddenly was quite close to his Mercedes before the braking zone. The 26-year-old highlighted that the two drivers had been summoned by race control.

I mean my take is that I have gone off, and itt is on me. I have half a second behind Fernando, and then all of a sudden, he came very closee to me. We are off to he stewards.
George Russell said post-race (H&T: @junaidsamodien_/X)
YouTube video

The Mercedes driver claimed that Alonso braked 100 meters before the corner. The 26-year-old affirmed that this was evident in the data seen by the Silver Arrows. George Russell highlighted that he was not prepared for Alonso to brake that early. Subsequently, the Briton was surprised and ended up having a massive crash. Moreover, Russell reckoned that it would be interesting to hear from the stewards regarding the incident.

FS Video
It's clear that he braked 100 meters before the corner, and we already saw that in the data. I wasn't expecting it and it caught me by surprise. It's interesting that they called us to the stewards, but it would be interesting to se what they say.
Russell stated

Fernando Alonso admits he was not focused on George Russell’s Mercedes during the race

Fernando Alonso had a difficult weekend at Albert Park. The two-time world champion damaged the floor of the AMR24 in free practice. Moreover, Alonso struggled in Qualifying to secure P10 on the grid, behind teammate Lance Stroll. Although, the Spaniard made a good recovery in the race and finished in sixth place, albeit seemingly having a role in Russell’s crash.

Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso (Via: Imago)

Alonso claimed that he was trying to focus on the cars ahead and not behind. The 42-year-old cited problems with the battery of the AMR24 which made it more difficult to pay attention to George Russell. The two-time world champion was relieved to know that Russell was unharmed after the massive damage to the car.

I was focussing infront of me and not behind. I had issues on the battery, which I was managing, and I focused on cars ahead not behind. I saw the car was damaged, and I heard he is okay.
Fernando Alonso said post-race (H&T: @junaidsamodien_/X)

Certainly, the stewards could look into taking action on Fernando Alonso for braking early. However, as of now, race control has not released any information over the incident. The paddock was relieved to see George Russell come out of the car without any injuries.

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