Fernando Alonso says the way drivers have to get creative to try and defend positions at times is “part of the art of motorsport” after being surprised by the penalty he was given after the Australian Grand Prix.
The stewards handed Alonso a retrospective drive-through penalty – converted into 20 seconds being added to his race time – for driving in a “potentially dangerous” manner when defending against George Russell on the final lap of the race in Melbourne.
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Alonso lifted more than 100 meters earlier than he had at any other stage of the race on the run to Turn 6, downshifted, then accelerated again and upshifted, before again slowing for the corner. Russell lost control coming close to the rear of Alonso’s car and encountering a loss of downforce, suffering a heavy crash and leading to the stewards investigating the incident and penalizing Alonso.
“Double points for the team and a better race pace than the rest of the weekend allowed us to cross the finish line in 6th and 7th place,” Alonso wrote of the outcome. “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. At no point do we want to do anything wrong at these speeds.
“I believe that without gravel on that corner, on any other corner in the world we will never be even investigated. 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.
“We never drive at 100% every race lap and every corner, we save fuel, tires, brakes, so being responsible for not making every lap the same is a bit surprising. We have to accept it and think about Japan, to have more pace and fight for positions further up the field.”
Aston Martin has the right to appeal the penalty – that dropped Alonso to eighth in the final result and ultimately cost the team two points – but has suggested it is unlikely to do so.