Two sides to Alonso’s Australian GP penalty argument

It was a bit of a bizarre end to the Australian Grand Prix when it came to the incident involving George Russell and Fernando Alonso. But while I’m going to stand up for Alonso to some degree, I’m also not against the fact that the stewards issued a penalty for what happened.

The first viewing hadn’t caused me to raise any eyebrows, and my focus was instead on Russell losing control and his car ending up on its side in the middle of the track.

The summons for both drivers to see the stewards was issued shortly after the checkered flag, and as that meant an investigation was being launched it genuinely took me a moment to work out if it was for that incident, or something that might have happened away from the television cameras on an earlier lap.

Sure, Russell appeared to get close to the back of Alonso’s car, but from the serene perspective of a stabilized on-board camera on the Mercedes roll hoop it didn’t appear overly erratic.

Since I was running around the paddock and unable to check which lap corresponded to the time of the incident mentioned in the stewards’ summons, I even asked an Aston Martin press officer if there was something I was missing. You won’t be surprised to hear they said no, and were similarly perplexed at that stage.

But what those on-board cameras show and how it actually feels to a driver behind the wheel — from a much lower vantage point and far less stability in their vision — are two very different things.

It was telling that the hearing involving the two drivers lasted for almost a full hour. Had it been a 10-minute visit, it would have suggested a quick and simple resolution one way or the other, and the initial expectation of no further action being taken. I actually thought they had both long since returned to their respective teams by the time they actually emerged; Russell walking alongside Mercedes sporting director Ron Meadows, and Alonso following a few paces behind next to Aston Martin’s Andy Stevenson.

There were stern expressions on their faces, and no words being spoken. At the very least, it suggested there had been some serious discussions going on.

And that’s when telemetry started surfacing, and previous lap to later lap comparisons, as fans did their own usual excellent investigatory work while waiting for the FIA to make its own decision.

By the time a penalty was handed out to Alonso because the stewards felt “he drove in a manner that was at very least ‘potentially dangerous’ given the very high-speed nature of that point of the track,” it had felt like one was coming. And the reaction seems to overstate the significance.

“A bit surprised by a penalty at the end of the race regarding how we should approach the corners or how we should drive the race cars,” Alonso wrote soon afterwards. “In F1, with over 20 years of experience, with epic duels like Imola 2005/2006 or Brazil 2023, changing racing lines, sacrificing entry speed to have good exits from corners is part of the art of motorsport.”

Add to that Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack’s comments and you’d think Alonso had just been banned from driving (as some fans calling for a particularly draconian penalty had suggested).

“I want you to know that we fully support Fernando,” Krack said in a message to the team’s fans. “He is the most experienced driver in Formula 1. He has competed in more grands prix than anyone else and has more than 20 years of experience. He is a multiple world champion in multiple categories.

“To receive a 20-second time penalty when there was no contact with the following car has been a bitter pill to swallow, but we have to accept the decision. We made our best case but without new evidence we are unable to request a right of review.

“Fernando is a phenomenal racer and he was using every tool in his toolbox to finish ahead of George — just like we saw in Brazil last year with Sergio [Perez]. This is the art of motorsport at the highest level. He would never put anyone in harm’s way.”