Fernando Alonso says that Formula 1 drivers will look for clarification over the multiple red flags that were deployed during the Australian Grand Prix.
The race was stopped for the first time early on when Alexander Albon collided with the barriers at Turn 6.
A standing restart was called and in the final laps of the race, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen touched the wall on the exit of Turn 2, which prompted Race Control to deploy a second red flag.
With just two laps remaining, another standing restart was ordered and resulted in on-track carnage, with four drivers retiring and several others involved in incidents.
The race was red flagged again, and the race was ended behind the Safety Car in the order that existed at the previous start, minus the retired cars.
In the aftermath of the race, questions were raised by some, asking if F1 is going too far to provide entertainment.
Alonso has questioned the need for the red flags, stating a Safety Car would have sufficed during the Melbourne race.
“I was surprised with all the red flags, to be honest,” Alonso said. “Because the first one was [because of] a Williams in Turn 6.
“We went through there one lap, I think, behind the Safety Car and there was a little bit of gravel, but nothing really too bad on track.”
However, Alonso acknowledged that the FIA has more information than the drivers – but says that there will likely be clarification sought when the season resumes in Baku laster this month.
“We never know in the car what’s going on on the track itself,” he said. “So apparently, maybe one barrier was not properly fit there, so I think the FIA has more information than us.
“So if there is a red flag, it has to be for a reason. We will ask probably in Baku what was the reason for the second?
“I know there was a piece of tyre debris in the first straight but the car itself was on the inside of Turn 4 so it felt quite safe there.
“And the safety car is for those kind of reasons so yeah, for us, maybe it was a different opinion.
“But as I said the FIA are the only ones that have all the cards on the table so in those kinds of situations, we trust them, and we try to keep them going.”
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