Russell Calls Alonso's Move 'One Step Too Far' And Agrees With Penalty

Friday, 05 April 2024 at 01:30

George Russell stated that the incident with Fernando Alonso would "open a can of worms" if the Spanish matador wasn't penalized.

Fernando Alonso dropped two positions a few hours after the end of the 2024 Australian Grand Prix. Stewards awarded him a penalty after a careful review of the incident with George Russell.

Alonso's driving was deemed potentially dangerous. However, many experts backed the 42-year-old, saying the incident wouldn't even have been investigated if Russell hadn't crashed.

It was a very controversial decision and a highly discussed topic over the last two weeks. Russell explained his point of view, saying that he was looking at a steering wheel (adjusting setup) as he considered himself still on the straight, far away from the braking point.

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However, Alonso braking 100 meters earlier meant he unexpectedly closed a lot of ground on the Spaniard, which he didn't expect. He also said during the press conference ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix:

"If you add into the mix, you're allowed to brake in the middle of the straight to gain a tactical, or get a tactical advantage."

"I think that is maybe one step too far. And the same when we talk about moving down the straight to get out of the slipstream."

The 25-year-old driver asserted he didn't think that the Aston Martin driver did something "extraordinarily dangerous," but he still believed the incident was rightly penalized.

"And if suddenly if you brake test somebody and there's 10 cars behind, it probably has a greater effect by the 10th driver than it does for the first driver behind."

"So as I said, I don't think what Fernando did was extraordinarily dangerous, but it will open a can of worms if it wasn't penalised."

The Spanish matador also commented on the stewards' decision, saying he absolutely disagreed but had no other option than to accept it.