General
F1 grid divided over Alonso punishment: this is what drivers think
Fernando Alonso was given a drive-through penalty for his role in George Russell's crash in the absolute closing stages of the Australian Grand Prix. An apparently perhaps somewhat harsh penalty, as the two drivers did not make contact. What do F1 drivers think of the stewards' decision?
Don't disagree with punishment:
"My take is that it was definitely a bit too much over the limit. I'd say a bit unnecessary to do so. But my biggest fear is that we might see this incident again. This weekend or next weekend and probably nothing will happen. That's my biggest fear. Because we've been struggling a lot to keep the consistency within the penalties."
"I think we all know what's acceptable. What's not acceptable. What's within the limits. I mean, knowing the drivers, especially like Fernando, he always does this sort of trick. Let's put it that way. Always within the limits. I think Fernando is a very aggressive driver. But always within the limits. I've had great fights with him. He's one of the drivers I trust the most. You know, there. I have to say that he was a bit too much to the limit or probably over the limit. But like I say, you know, we might see this incident again in two weeks, three weeks time, and nothing will happen."
Hulkenberg:
"My personal view and when I saw it all, I wasn’t very impressed with Fernando's tactics there, to be honest, because Melbourne, after all, is kind of a street circuit. It's quite narrow there. We approached that corner with 260, 270 km/h. It's a blind exit. And, you know, if for whatever reason, the flag system or someone is late and one of us would have T-boned George, I think, the outcome and the way he feels might have been also quite different. So I think, whilst that tactic is quite a common one in Formula 1, in that particular corner with that speed, with a blind exit, I think it's the wrong corner to do it and produced quite a dangerous situation.''
Ricciardo:
"With the Fernando thing, it's a strange one. The consequence was big. Obviously, George had a massive crash because of... Sorry, a little bit of his defence strategy. So from that, you're like, okay, that was bad. But then again, if George hadn't crashed, then maybe nothing would have happened. So it's... Yeah. I'll be honest. I haven't seen the data, and I don't know if he just lifted early or what. But if he was to kind of suddenly break in a straight line, then that's... Yeah, I'm not... Definitely not condoning that."
"I think if it's just that he lifted off a bit earlier and tried to just distract George a little bit, then that's obviously one that's maybe, you're going to have probably 50-50 for and against. But if it's like a break in a straight line, then yeah, for sure, that's not... That's not something I would advise anyone to be doing. Did he break or was it just a lift?"
Leclerc:
"I mean, my view is that it's something that we do as drivers. However, not to that extent. And it was too much. I mean, what Fernando did in Australia was too much, and it had to be penalised."
Disagree with punishment:
Magnussen:
"I think there's been some harsh penalties this year. So, you know, from the looks of it... They're tightening up. They're making harsher penalties. But it didn't look to me that it was solely Alonso's fault. But I think it's, you know… It's just important to have, as we always say, consistency. So we can anticipate, you know, so we can drive to the limit of the rules and not over it."
"But yes, it seems to be a little harsher this year. Well, I think that incident is a pretty unique one. It's not one that I've seen before where a driver breaks early and the guy behind crashes. You know, that's not something I've seen every day. So it is a new situation. And if they had given Alonso a reprimand, I wouldn't have thought that was out of order, you know. But they gave him a drive-through and a big penalty. So I was a little bit surprised to see that. But, you know, it is what it is."
Norris:
"It shouldn't be a penalty. Now, no. It was clear, now it's not. Just my opinion. Maybe all the drivers have different opinions. What Fernando did was odd. Like, so extreme. But I don't think it's even close to being regarded as a brake test. Did he brake and downshift? I don't know the exact things about it. But, like, should it be a penalty in any way? No. Like, George, in my opinion, should have seen it coming."
"I don't want to comment too much on it. But George had time to see what was going on. And I'm sure it's always tougher being in the situation. So that's why I don't like commenting on it. But that kind of thing shouldn't have been a penalty. I think it's clear he's in front, like Max and Hamilton. That's a brake test, you know. This was not a brake test. This was just trying to play very smart. Fernando being Fernando. And kind of being caught out by it. But it was not aggressive. It was not, like, one metre in front of a car, stopping. It was, like, 100 metres ahead. And slowed out. And just the approaching speed caught George off. But nowhere near should that be a penalty, I would say."
Bottas:
"I was quite surprised about the penalty to be honest, yes, it's on the limit, it was clear what he did, that he tried to kind of kill the momentum of George for the back straight. I think if he's going to do that, he's going to have to do it. If George had not ended up in the wall or going off the track, probably then there would have not been a penalty, it made it look quite dramatic. I still feel like the car ahead should always be allowed to choose the speed and the line, but it's a fine line, whatever you can do, so I was quite surprised about the penalty, actually."
"It's a tough one, like I said, it's impossible to judge, every situation is different, but with Fernando's case, I still feel like it. It's a tough one. It shouldn't be that harsh penalty, maybe reprimand or black and white-black flag or something, but that kind of penalty maybe I feel like it's a bit harsh because I think in the future then these people are more afraid to try and play a bit along those lines, you know?"
Piastri:
"Yes, it was obviously quite different to how we'd taken the corner beforehand. I think it potentially creates a very, very tricky precedent for everybody. Giving a car a penalty for no contact. And I mean, quite frankly, it wasn't a crash out of avoidance. I can understand that if George was trying to avoid Fernando and had to swerve off the track, then yes, understandable. But giving someone a penalty for causing dirty air, I mean, I'm sure a lot of qualifying sessions would go very differently if we started doing that."
"I was a bit surprised by the penalty. It would be interesting to know the thoughts of everyone else. I'm sure there'll be a lot of discussion about it in the driver's briefing. So, yeah, that's where I'll leave it."
