F1 News: Bernie Collins claims Mercedes HARSHLY treated by rivals

Toto Wolff, Mercedes, Bahrain, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

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F1 pundit claims Mercedes HARSHLY treated by rivals

The incident left Mercedes with a double retirement in Australia

Tyler Rowlinson

Wednesday 27 March 2024 11:57

Sky Sports F1 strategy analyst Bernie Collins has given her thoughts on the incident between George Russell and Fernando Alonso at the Australian Grand Prix.

During the final lap of the race, Russell was chasing Alonso for sixth place when the Mercedes driver lost control of his car at turn six.

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The Brit ran across the gravel trap and crashed into the wall before spinning back onto the middle of the track, with the race ending under the virtual safety car as Carlos Sainz claimed victory in a Ferrari one-two..

After an investigation from the stewards, Alonso was deemed to have taken ‘extraordinary’ actions in his approach to the corner and was given a 20-second penalty, demoting him to eighth.

George Russell crashed heavily on the final lap

Fernando Alonso was given a 20-second penalty for the incident

Collins: Mercedes will feel hard done by

Despite the penalty, Aston Martin achieved decent points with Lance Stroll being promoted to sixth place, while Mercedes suffered a double retirement after an engine failure for Lewis Hamilton took him out of the race on lap 17.

Speaking on her X account, Collins assessed the incident on the penultimate lap, and believes that Mercedes will be feeling ‘hard done by’ the ordeal.

“Big talking point at the end of the race being the incident between Alonso and Russell,” she said.

“Alonso into turn six taking a very different approach to the corner than he and at any other point in the race.

“From the document that we have, the FIA document saying that there was a lift 100 metres earlier, a slight brake application as well and a downshift. So, you know 100 metres difference into a corner is pretty huge in F1 terms.

“We’d be telling drivers sort of 10 metre differences if there was anything across drivers that they’d be trying to improve on, so 100 metres is a big, big difference in terms of an approach to a corner, which obviously caught Russell off guard.

Lewis Hamilton also retired from the race

“You know, Russell himself saying maybe he could have reacted slightly better to it but still, you know, the result remains where that Russell is out,” she added.

“Thankfully [he’s] safe and not injured, but a big difference in points take home for Mercedes which they’d be really disappointed with.

“We obviously don’t have all of the data that the FIA have and they’ve been very clear that they punished Alonso’s actions rather than the subsequent reaction of Russell.

My thoughts on Alonso v Russell end of race. Thankfully Russell is ok. Could have been a massive incident. #MelbourneGP #F12024 pic.twitter.com/LX8pQH4xyL
— Bernie Collins (@bernie_collins1) March 24, 2024

“Aston Martin haven’t suffered too badly in points because Lance Stroll was promoted. Big difference to Mercedes with no points given that they’re now only one point ahead of Aston Martin in the championship.

“They’ll feel a little bit hard done by probably and lots of damage that they need to get ready for Japan in two weeks time.”

Mercedes George Russell Fernando Alonso Australian Grand Prix Bernie Collins