Mercedes driver explains why he believes Melbourne stewards were right to penalise Fernando Alonso, but opinion split elsewhere on the grid; watch every session of the Japanese GP on Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Main Event with the race at 6am on Sunday
Thursday 4 April 2024 14:37, UK
George Russell believes that not penalising Fernando Alonso for his driving in the closing laps of the Australian GP would have "opened a can of worms".
However, in a decision that has split opinion with the sport reconvening at Suzuka for this week's Japanese GP, Alonso was joined by other drivers including McLaren's Lando Norris in questioning the sanction imposed and the stewards' reasoning for it.
The incident will be discussed in Friday evening's drivers' briefing at Suzuka, according to world champion Max Verstappen.
Alonso was handed a post-race 20-second time penalty for what stewards deemed was the Aston Martin's "potentially dangerous" driving in front of Russell as they fought over sixth place on the Melbourne race's penultimate lap.
Taken by surprise by the Spaniard's approach to the high-speed Turn Six, when he initially slowed earlier than normal before accelerating again, Russell spun off the circuit and crashed, with his car ending up on its side in the middle of the circuit.
Speaking in Thursday's Suzuka press conference, Russell said: "Obviously a bit of a strange situation what happened last week.
"Totally caught by surprise. I was actually looking at the steering wheel making a switch change in the straight, which we all do across the lap, and when I looked up I was in Fernando's gearbox and it was too late and then next thing I know that I'm in the wall.
"I think if it were not to have been penalised it would have really opened a can of worms for the rest of the season and in junior categories of saying 'are you allowed to brake in a straight, are you allowed to slow down. Change gear, accelerate, do something semi-erratic?'"
Russell, who is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, added: "I don't take anything personal with what happened with Fernando and it probably had bigger consequences than it should have.
"But as I said, if it went unpenalised, can you brake in the middle of the straight? I don't know. So nothing more to say, really."
Alonso and Aston Martin expressed disappointment with the stewards' decision after the race in Melbourne, with the two-time world champion suggesting that "being responsible for not making every lap the same is a bit surprising".
Asked by Sky Sports F1 on Thursday if he felt there was now overregulation in F1, Alonso said: "I don't think so, the rules are clear.
"As I said, it was definitely surprising - the penalty - but we accept it and move forward."
He later added to the written press: "It was clear and I think it's still clear [what the rules of defending position are].
"It will not change much on how we drive, how we approach racing. There is no obligation to drive 57 laps in the same way. Sometimes we get slower pace to save fuel, to save tyres, to save battery. Sometimes we go slow into corners or into some sectors of the track to give the DRS to the car behind because that will be a useful tool if the second car behind is at a faster pace.
"So all those things are completely normal. It was, it is, and it will be forever in motorsport. We had one penalty, probably a one-off that will never be applied ever again. It was for us, we take it, we accept it, we lost two points for the team."
Lando Norris, McLaren:
"It was clear what you could do in terms of defending and now it's not. That's just my opinion. Maybe other drivers have different opinions.
"What Fernando did was odd, but I don't think it's even close to being regarded as a brake test. Did he brake and downshift? I don't know the exact things. Should it be a penalty? No. George should have seen it coming. He had time to see what was going on.
"I'm sure it's always tougher being in the situation but that kind of thing shouldn't be a penalty. I think it's clear he was in front.
"It was not a brake test. This was trying to be smart and Fernando being Fernando and (Russell) being caught out by it. It was not aggressive or one metre in front of a car stopping.
"He was 100m ahead and slowing down. Just the approaching speed caught George off. Nowhere near should that be a penalty.
"If George was a lot closer and then suddenly in the middle the straight then Fernando lifts off or swerves, then that's more of a question. George didn't have to do anything but brake five metres earlier and it would have been a different outcome, so that's also a question for George.
"When you're a driver, you have to react to everything around you. It's worse going into Turn One at the start of the race, you have no idea when people are going to brake but you have to react. As soon as they brake, you brake."
Nico Hulkenberg, Haas:
"My personal view, when I saw it all, I wasn't very impressed with Fernando's tactics there to be honest.
"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 quite a dangerous situation.
"What I also don't understand is right after, on the radio, he's talking about throttle issues - like throttle stuck, or not stuck. But then later on, he doesn't talk about it anymore.
"He just talks about that it's standard procedure and tactic. So that doesn't align and he seems to have changed his opinion there. But like I said, I wasn't very impressed with that personally."
Oscar Piastri, McLaren:
"It was obviously quite different from how [Alonso] took the corner beforehand. I think giving a penalty for it potentially creates a very, very tricky precedent for everybody.
"Giving a car a penalty for no contact and, quite frankly, it wasn't a crash out of avoidance. I understand if George was trying to avoid Fernando and had to swerve off the track, yes, understandable.
"But giving someone a penalty for causing dirty air sure, I mean, I'm sure lot of qualifying sessions would go very differently if they started doing that. So I was a bit surprised by the penalty."
Meanwhile, Russell recounted the "incredibly uncomfortable position" he had found himself in after the crash when his Mercedes had come to a rest on its side in the middle of one of the fastest points of the Albert Park circuit.
On-board footage released from Russell's car of the immediate aftermath of the accident revealed the Briton's distressed-sounding calls over the radio for a red flag to stop the race. Race Control activated the Virtual Safety Car, which dictates a significantly-reduced lap time that drivers must adhere to.
"You're on a blind bend, 250 kilometres an hour, right on the racing line with the car half upside down, you know, waiting for disaster to happen," said Russell.
"You know, fortunately I had a 10-second gap behind me and I think it was 10 or 12 seconds before the Safety Car came out. But in the space of 10 seconds, you can have five, six, seven cars if that was on lap one of the race and probably been hit numerous times, even with the yellow flag.
"Yeah, I mean, we've seen close incidents before where a car comes back, Carlos [Sainz] in '22 in Japan. I think we need to find a way that if a car is in a danger zone, automated, you know, VSC straight away, you know, within, you know, half a second or so because those seconds count. And, you know, lives are at risk.
"We've seen it, you know, Spa, numerous times in the past, cars, aquaplaning. Yeah, I think it's time with the technology that we have to make steps in this area."
Ferrari's Carlos Sainz was one of several drivers to call for changes to the Turn Six-corner of the Albert Park circuit given the way cars were coming back on to the track after accidents. Williams Alex Albon also crashed there in the 2023 race and again in opening practice this year.
"I think that corner needs to be reviewed, which is already something I said in the last driver's briefing, but it's not the first time that after a collision, the car comes back into the track and it's a corner that we're doing 250kph and it's blind," said Sainz.
"I just don't like the last few incidents that we've seen in this corner, also in other categories. It just doesn't give me a very good feeling. It's a great corner, don't get me wrong. I love driving in a qualifying lap.
"It's just... When it comes to racing, there's been just too many examples of a car coming back onto a track and being very narrow there. And I just think it's a corner that needs to be a bit reviewed."
Friday April 5
3am: Japanese GP Practice One (session starts at 3.30am)*
6.45am: Japanese GP Practice Two (session starts at 7am)*
8.15am: The F1 Show*
10am: Japanese GP Practice One replay
11.30am: Japanese GP Practice Two replay
Saturday April 6
3.15am: Japanese GP Practice Three (session starts at 3.30am)*
6am: Japanese GP Qualifying build-up*
7am: Japanese GP Qualifying*
9am: Ted's Qualifying Notebook*
9.30am: Japanese GP Qualifying replay
Sunday April 7
5am: Grand Prix Sunday Japanese GP build-up*
6am: The JAPANESE GRAND PRIX*
8am: Chequered Flag: Japanese GP reaction*
9am: Ted's Notebook*
9.30am: Japanese Grand Prix highlights*
10.30am: Japanese Grand Prix replay
*also live on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1's biggest ever season continues with the Japanese Grand Prix, live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership - No contract, cancel anytime
Stream Sky Sports live with no contract on a Month or Day membership on NOW. Instant access to live action from the Premier League, EFL, F1, England Cricket, Tennis and so much more.
