Hill questions stewards' judgement: 'Should just be part of sport'

Damon Hill has expressed surprise at the drive through penalty given to Fernando Alonso at the end of the Australian Grand Prix. The Aston Martin driver played a decisive role in the crash witnessed by George Russell, according to the stewards. Hill finds it on the heavy side and argues that it is also your job as a driver to sometimes do unexpected things.

The stewards' verdict stated that Alonso braked 100 metres earlier than he had done up to that point in the race. The Spaniard also braked very lightly at a point where he had not done so earlier in the race. However, the braking was not the biggest factor in slowing down; that was the fact that Alonso had downshifted earlier. Alonso, in the stewards' view, was driving slower than necessary, endangering another driver.

'Racing is doing unexpected things'

Hill looks at it slightly differently. "George got surprised, it looked to me that he was very surprised to find the closing speed to Fernando to be so great. Or he just got too close, he was pushing too hard and got understeer because he was under his rear gearbox. I do think this is where we get into the difficult area of what is racing and what is dastardly tricks," the one-time world champion told the F1 Nation Podcast.

"I think you have to assume that the FIA want to stop people doing things that are potentially dangerous, but then it is dangerous! Motor racing is dangerous," said the 63-year-old Briton. "You have to be careful when you’re going for a move on someone, if you’re closing on them you’ve got to be prepared for them to do things that are gamesmanship. I just think this has to be part of the sport, being wary of an individual because they’ve got form or they’re clever or whatever. I just think the idea that you’ve got to stop people from doing anything unexpected, that’s not really racing.”