The entire Formula 1 grid was questioned on their view of the decision to penalise Fernando Alonso at the Australian Grand Prix with mixed responses across the board.
Alonso had been attempting to keep George Russell behind in the closing stages when he appeared to reduce his speed into Turn 6 and the Briton crashed on the last lap.
However, both drivers were called to the FIA stewards post-race and it was announced that Alonso had been handed a 20-second time drop, demoting him down to eighth.
The four-person panel reviewed video footage and telemetry that demonstrated the Spaniard had “slowed 100 metres” earlier than he had throughout the previous 57 laps.
Alonso believes the outcome didn’t constitute a “dangerous” move on his part, explaining that he had intended to “maximise my exit speed to defend from the Mercedes.
However, Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg believes that Alonso was right to be punished, citing that he chose the “wrong corner” to execute such a manoeuvre on a competitor.
“My personal view, when I saw it all, I wasn’t very impressed with Fernando’s tactics there to be honest,” Hulkenberg said.
“Melbourne, after all, it’s kind of a street circuit. It’s quite narrow there, we approach the corner with 260-270km/h, and it’s a blind exit.
“And if, for whatever reason, the flag system or someone is late, and one of us would have T-boned George, I think the outcome and the way he feels might have been also quite different.
“So I think whilst that tactic is quite a common one in F1, in that particular corner, with that speed, with a blind exit, I think it’s the wrong corner to do it and produced a dangerous situation.”
The veteran German also hinted that Alonso’s complaints over the team radio that he had a problem with his throttle was an attempt to avoid later being penalised.
“What I also don’t understand is right after, on the radio, he’s talking about throttle issues, throttle stuck, or not stuck,” he added.
“But then later on, he doesn’t talk about that anymore, he just talks about that is standard procedure and tactics. So that doesn’t align and seems to have changed his opinion there.
“But basically, I wasn’t very impressed with that, personally.”
Sergio Perez concurred with his ex-Force India team-mate, despite acknowledging that his experience racing with Alonso has remained within tolerable boundaries.
“I think we all know what’s acceptable, what’s within the limits,” he said. “I mean, knowing the drivers, especially like Fernando, he always does these sort of tricks.
“Always within the limits. I think Fernando is a very aggressive driver, but always within the limits. I’ve had great fights with him. He’s one of the drivers I trust the most.
“I have to say that he was a bit too much to the limit, or probably over the limit. But like I say, we might see this incident again in two weeks, three weeks’ time, and nothing will happen.”
Charles Leclerc echoed those comments as the Ferrari driver stated that Alonso overstepped the mark on this occasion
“It’s something that we do as drivers, however not to that extent,” said Leclerc. “What Fernando did in Australia was too much and had to be penalised.”
However, their views were not shared up and down the pitlane as Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas contended that he was “quite surprised” that Alonso was disciplined post-race.
“It was clear what he did, he tried to kind of kill the momentum off of George, for the backstretch,” Bottas explained.
“And then I think, if George would have not ended up in the wall, or going off track, probably then there would have not been penalty, as it made it look quite dramatic.
“I still feel like we should always be allowed to choose the speed and the line. But it’s a fine line, whether you can do, so I was quite surprised by that.”
The Finn, who held the Mercedes seat that Russell took in 2022, believes that Alonso’s punishment was too severe for the misdemeanour he committed on track.
“Every situation is different but with Fernando’s case I still feel like it shouldn’t be that harsh penalty,” he outlined. “Maybe a reprimand or a black and white flag or something.
“But that kind of penalty I feel like it’s a bit harsh because I think in the future than just people are more afraid to try and play a bit with along those lines.”
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