Fernando Alonso denied that slowing into Turn 6 on the last lap of the Australian Grand Prix constituted a “dangerous” move that warranted him being penalised.
The Stewards elected to issue Alonso with a 20-second penalty for his part in the incident that saw George Russell crash out of the race at Turn 6 on the final tour.
Prior to the discussion with race officials, the Spaniard said in the media pen that he “had some battery issues” and that his Aston Martin “did change for the last 15 laps.
“So I was concerned about keeping the position but I was happy with seventh as well,” he explained.
The FIA’s statement following its penalty read that Alons: “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,” the verdict continued.
“He then upshifted again, and accelerated to the corner before lifting again to make the corner.”
However, despite admitting to employing these driving tactics, which ultimately landed him the penalty, Alonso believes they were what any racing driver would do.
“In the closing laps, George caught me quickly,” he said.
“I knew that he was coming, then he was in DRS range for five or six laps, so I was just doing qualifying laps to stay ahead.
“I wanted to maximise my exit speed from Turn Six to defend against him.
“That’s what any racing driver would do, and I didn’t feel it was dangerous.
“It’s disappointing to get a penalty from the stewards for what was hard but fair racing.
“Still, I’m glad that George is okay. It was not nice to see his car in the middle of the track.”
Team Principal Mike Krack said it was “surprising” to see Alonso demoted from sixth to eighth with the penalty, but that the team had “to accept the decision.”
Regardless, it was still a double points finish for Aston Martin at Albert Park as Lance Stroll was promoted from seventh to sixth after the stewards’ action.
Alonso felt the race pace was amiss for Aston this weekend, but credited the outfit’s strategy with producing “a good race.”
“We were a little lucky with the timing of the Virtual Safety Car when Lewis [Hamilton] retired,” he said.
“Then I was pretty happy sat behind Checo [Perez] because I could use the DRS to pull a gap.
“I lost a lot of time when Charles [Leclerc] came out from the pits – but those seconds we gained proved to be gold dust at the end.
“This wasn’t the best weekend for us in terms of pace, but our race was well executed: good strategy, incredible pit-stops, great reliability.
“I think we probably scored more points today than our pace merited – but we’ll take that.”
With Mercedes failing to score this weekend, Aston Martin sits just a point behind the Brackley-based outfit in the Constructors’ standings, 26 points to 25 in the Silver Arrows’ favour.
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