Alonso slapped with drive-through after Australian GP

Feature Image Credit: Aston Martin F1

(Sergio Perez – Left, Fernando Alonso – Top Center, Charles Leclerc – Right)

Aston Martin’s two-time world champion, Fernando Alonso has been slapped with a post-race, drive-through penalty for the Australian Grand Prix after Mercedes’ George Russell crashed out on the last lap. 

After the chequered flag fell on the Australian GP, where Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz secured his third career victory following his appendectomy, both Russell and Alonso were summoned to the stewards. 

Russell and Alonso were both in championship-awarding positions, in P6 and P7, on the final lap of the race. The two were only separated by 0.5s when they approached turn six, ahead of the incident, which resulted in a crash for Russell – leaving his W15 on its side. 

Although no contact was made between the two cars, a drive-through penalty was deemed appropriate for Alonso. The stewards deemed he choose ‘to perform an unusual manoeuvre’ which they believed to be an ‘aggravating circumstance, as opposed to a simple mistake.’

Both Russell and Alonso were present at the meeting, alongside their team representatives, where they examined positioning/marshalling system data, video, telemetry (including that supplied by the teams), team radio and in-car video evidence.

In the report, the stewards said: 

“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.” 

According to the report, the telemetry showed that Alonso did lift slightly more than 100m earlier than he ever did during the race. In addition, he also braked slightly, at a point where he hadn’t usually broken going into the corner. 

The stewards confirmed the amount Alonso broke was so slight it was not the main reason for his car slowing. However, he did downshift at a point he never usually downshifted but ‘upshifted again, accelerated to the corner’ before he lifted once more. 

The stewards heard from Alonso that he was planning to slow earlier but got it ‘slightly wrong and had to take extra steps to get back up to speed.’ 

“This manoeuvre created a considerable and unusual closing speed between the cars,” the stewards stated. “In considering the matter the stewards focused solely on the wording of the regulation which states ‘At no time may a car be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person.’

“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.”

In consideration of Alonso’s account of events, alongside the wording of the sporting regulations, the stewards deemed the two-time world champion had drove in a manner that was ‘at the very least’ potentially dangerous due to the high-speed nature of the Albert Park Circuit. 

The drive-through penalty which has been applied after the race, amount to 20 seconds of elapsed time, means he will drop from sixth on the classification. This will promote both, teammate, Lance Stroll and RB’s Yuki Tsunoda up a place. 

In addition to the drive-through, Alonso has also been given three penalty points on his licence for the incident. 

That’s all for the article; Alonso slapped with drive-through after Australian GP!

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Australian GP: Sainz secures victory after recovery as Verstappen retires
• Australian GP: Verstappen takes third consecutive pole in 2024
• Australian GP: Leclerc fastest in final practice ahead of Verstappen and Sainz
• A concerning picture for Williams following Albon/Sargeant switch
• Albon to compete Australian GP in Sargeant’s car
• Australian GP: Leclerc fastest in undisrupted FP2 ahead of Verstappen

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.