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Did Alonso cause a crash with Russell? 'I was focusing in front of me'

Did Alonso cause a crash with Russell? 'I was focusing in front of me'

24 March - 06:24

GPblog.com

Fernando Alonso must answer to the stewards for possibly causing George Russell's heavy crash on the final lap of the Australian Grand Prix. Speaking to Sky Sports, the Aston Martin driver answers the question of whether or not there was a brake test.

Alonso on crash Russell

Before Russell's crash, Alonso indicated via team radio that he was having problems with his throttle and could not go full throttle. This could explain why he suddenly went off the gas much more than the lap before. After the race and before heading to the stewards' office, Alonso shared his side of the story.

"I was focusing in front of me and not behind. I had some issues for the last 15 laps on the battery and the deployment. I was struggling a bit at the end of the race. But he's okay. I saw the car and I was very worried," said the 42-year-old Spaniard.

He continued: "I knew he was coming, and he had already been in the DRS distance for five or six laps. He was very close, and as I said, I was qualifying laps and trying to match him on the pace, but yeah, it was not an easy race, not an easy weekend in general in terms of pace. Today, obviously, we got lucky with the strategy, and when Lewis was off, that was a good safety car, but we cannot hide that the race was difficult the whole weekend."