Alonso's "Elbows Out" Style Sparks FIA Fury in Aussie GP Drama
Mar.25 - Fernando Alonso went "too far" in "using his elbows" in the dying moments of the Australian GP.
That is the view not only of expert pundits, but also the FIA - whose stewards put three penalty points on his F1 superlicense and a 20-second penalty for the scary incident that effectively ended the Melbourne race.
Mercedes' George Russell pleaded in terror on the radio for red flags after bouncing back onto the racing line after a heavy crash - arguably caused by Alonso having 'brake-tested' him.
Alonso's long-time friend, and now Aston Martin ambassador, Pedro de la Rosa, criticised the stewards' decision. "They cannot tell the drivers how to drive," he insisted.
"No one here deliberately stood on the brakes. Fernando just defended his position, which is what a racing driver does. Russell should have anticipated that Fernando would do everything he could to get the perfect exit in turn 6, because he was most vulnerable on the long back straight."
The stewards, however, found that Alonso's act of "lifting, braking" and "downshifting" more than 100 metres earlier than usual was dangerous enough for the penalty.
Former Red Bull driver Robert Doornbos told Ziggo Sport that the stewards also wouldn't have appreciated Alonso's "Oscar-worthy performance" of blaming technical issues for the approach to turn 6 that Russell called "bizarre".
"If you give an Oscar-worthy performance, shouting about the battery and the pedal, and he didn't have those problems, the FIA saw that and said 'You're talking nonsense'," he said.
"The FIA asked for the data and they saw that the closing rate was enormous. It's also not the first time Alonso has brake tested a competitor.
"A bit of push and pull is part of it, but that went too far," Doornbos added.
Another former driver, Timo Glock, told Sky Deutschland: "Fernando is always using his elbows. I think he knew exactly what he was doing.
"His idea was to catch Russell off guard, slow him down and then be on the gas early to open a gap. But it was so extreme that Russell didn't expect it at all.
"Alonso extends his elbows and uses these grey areas to gain an advantage," Glock added.
For his part, 42-year-old Alonso defended his actions on social media. He insisted that with his "more than 20 years of experience, with epic duels like Imola 2005-2006, Brazil 2023, changing racing lines, sacrificing entry speed to have good exits" is simply "part of the art of motorsport".
Also awkward for Alonso is that he is believed to be a frontrunner to replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes next year.
"I don't want to accuse Alonso of anything, because I only watched a few laps back so far," team boss Toto Wolff said in Melbourne.
"But he braked on the lap of Russell's crash at a point where he had not braked before."
✅ Check out more posts with related topics:
FIA have put themselves in a difficult situation for the future by setting a new precedent for defensive driving because, for consistency’s sake, moving on, they should be willing to act the same way every single time someone drives differently on a given lap to how they’d drive otherwise or on any other lap in that given race, especially if someone is close behind regardless of whether he goes off or stays on track.
JESUS! What is this world coming to? Why not just put them all in simulators and eliminate all risk. Next thing you know drivers will be claiming "Me Too" and the stewards will be handing out trophies based on feelings and how involved a driver is in environmental and social justice activities. Stirling Moss was right! Racing is and should be dangerous to separate the men from the boys and gals. If there is a gal that can hang with the men in an F1 car great give her a seat otherwise hand her a body suit and an umbrella, the grid needs its girls back.
Torger will be happy , for once the stewards decision went Mercedes way lol
Yeah after GR said
Sky Sports F1, Russell explained: "My take is that I've gone off and that's on me.
"I don't know if he had a problem or not but we are off to the stewards and that's a bit bizarre in a circumstance like .
Torger Christian then demanded the stewards look at brake testing. Since disappeared from most media.
Even though stewards ( including There'll Always be an England) Johnny Herbert,couldn't find that so they found something that didn't happen but could conceivably happened.
As George goes into totally shocked and snitch mode.
Sigh
There'll be some thigh slapping and boot tapping in Österreich. And Brittania.
Russell needs to grow some balls. This is f1 in the modern day. I've been watching and visiting it for 50 years. Alonso didn't do anything wrong by lifting off early, driver's choice right? If Russell wasn't fast enough mentally to keep up with that then maybe he should consider his position
Fully agree, a big problem in the current western world...
A lot of guys have no balls and only point at others when they f*ck up. They just don't have the balls to say it was their own stupid mistake...
Yes but wah wah that clever defence wasn't available on my Sim ! to counter!
Am I supposed to think for myself.
Not fair! Not fair! pouts George as he stomps off.
AAAAAnnd I want Lewis's COTA ride height from now on and no scrutineering!
Im not sure King G was complaining ,Ok ive admittedly only seen one interview he said he found it odd, and refused to at least at that point blame it on Alonso, straight out talking during interviews is a thing of the past, Diplomacy rules, which i agree is sad, I suppose everyone has to watch what they say these days or before you know it, theres a complaint and lawyers earning and headphones being smashed
The stewards have to decide one thing, was it dangerous to brake heavily and unexpectedly in front of another car. Their answer was yes.
Maybe Alonso was practising for a post retirement insurance scam, or showing RB that he would fit in well with his brake testing skills as their new defensive team member.Not sure if Tonto would be so impressed though, you need to be in front first.
✅ Checkout the latest 50 F1 Fans comments.