FIA drops the hammer as F1 champion is slapped with MASSIVE penalty

Australian Grand Prix

FIA drops the hammer as F1 champion is slapped with MASSIVE penalty

It follows a dramatic incident during the final new laps of the Grand Prix

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 24 March 2024 16:00

A dramatic incident in the final few laps of the Australian Grand Prix landed Fernando Alonso a severe 20-second penalty on Sunday evening.

The Aston Martin ace had been on course for a solid P6 finish in Melbourne, but his involvement in George Russell's scary late crash means he now places behind teammate Lance Stroll in the final race classification.

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Given that the incident occurred so late in the race, Alonso's drive-through penalty was converted into a 20-second penalty, meaning he will tumble down the order into eighth - behind Visa Cash App RB driver Yuki Tsunoda.

It comes following a dramatic incident featuring Mercedes driver George Russell, who completed a miserable weekend for his team by crashing on the penultimate lap.

Fernando Alonso has been hit with a penalty

George Russell suffered a huge crash at the end of the race

Alonso tactics penalised

The 26-year-old had been chasing down Alonso for sixth place when, heading into turn six on the penultimate lap, he was affected by the dirty air coming from the Aston Martin, sending him off onto the gravel and uncontrollably into the wall.

During Sky Sports F1's coverage, Martin Brundle suggested that Mercedes would be within their rights to suggest Alonso 'brake tested' Russell, and it was revealed shortly after that the Spaniard was under investigation.

Now, he has been hit with the 20-second penalty, after stewards confirmed that 'extraordinary' actions had been taken by Alonso.

"Car 63 (George Russell) was following Car 14 (Fernando Alonso) approximately 0.5 seconds behind as the cars approached turn 6," the FIA revealed in a statement.

"Alonso explained to the stewards that he intended to approach turn 6 differently, lifting earlier, and with less speed into the corner, to get a better exit. Russell explained to the stewards that from his perspective, Alonso’s manoeuvre was erratic, took him by surprise and caused him to close distance unusually fast, and with the resulting lower downforce at the apex of the corner, he lost control and crashed at the exit of the corner.

"There was no contact between the cars. Telemetry shows that Alonso lifted slightly more than 100m earlier than he ever had going into that corner during the race. He also braked very slightly at a point that he did not usually brake (although the amount of brake was so slight that it was not the main reason for his car slowing) and he downshifted at a point he never usually downshifted. He then upshifted again, and accelerated to the corner before lifting again to make the corner. Alonso explained that while his plan was to slow earlier, he got it slightly wrong and had to take extra steps to get back up to speed. Nonetheless, this manoeuvre created a considerable and unusual closing speed between the cars.

Carlos Sainz won the Australian Grand Prix

"Specifically, in this case, the stewards have not considered the consequences of the crash. Further, the stewards considered that they do not have sufficient information to determine whether Alonso’s manoeuvre was intended to cause Russell problems, or whether as he stated to the stewards that he simply was trying to get a better exit.

"Should Alonso have the right to try a different approach to the corner? – yes. Should Alonso be responsible for dirty air, that ultimately caused the incident? – no.

"However, did he choose to do something, with whatever intent, that was extraordinary, ie lifting, braking, downshifting and all the other elements of the manoeuvre over 100m earlier than previously, and much greater than was needed to simply slow earlier for the corner? - yes by his own account of the incident he did, and in the opinion of the stewards by doing these things, he drove in a manner that was at very least “potentially dangerous” given the very high speed nature of that point of the track."

Written by

Sam Cook - Digital Journalist

Sam Cook is a talented young sports journalist and social media professional who now specialises in Formula 1, having previously worked as a football journalist and a local news reporter for a variety of different brands.

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Ferrari Mercedes FIA George Russell Aston Martin Yuki Tsunoda