Carlos Sainz had already crossed the finish line as the winner when a drama unfolded 80 seconds behind him that could have been eye-catching. George Russell lost the car in the duel against Fernando Alonso in Turn 6 at 250 km/h and crashed into the barrier, causing his Mercedes to line up and come to a stop across the track.
It was an extremely uncomfortable position for the Englishman. The race management failed to show the red flag immediately and took at least ten seconds to slow the drivers down to VSC speed. In the meantime, Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda circumnavigated the upright Mercedes wreckage at almost racing speed.
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Alonso only slipped ahead of Russell through the VSC phase after Hamilton’s retirement.
Russell criticizes unpredictable maneuvers
Russell reported to his team on the radio that Alonso had slowed down unusually early before Turn 6, then picked up the pace again, only to take his foot off the accelerator again shortly before the apex. The quick closing on the opponent and the evasive maneuver together with the loss of downforce threw the attacker off course.
In the interviews after the race, the Mercedes driver defended Alonso: “It looked as if Fernando had problems. Two laps before the end he lost an unusually large amount of speed in turn 9.” Alonso reported battery problems in an initial survey. At Mercedes they didn’t buy his excuse. It wouldn’t have lasted either because Mercedes of course has access to the engine data of its customer team.
In front of the stewards, Russell told a different story. From his point of view, Alonso’s maneuver was unpredictable, which surprised him and reduced the distance to the Aston Martin so quickly that he lost contact pressure at the apex of the corner and thus lost control of his car. There was no contact between the Mercedes and the Aston Martin.
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Russell said he was surprised and irritated by Alonso’s unusual maneuvers.
Alonso is looking for perfect acceleration
Alonso had a different view of things. He wanted to approach Turn 6 differently on the last lap to ensure perfect acceleration into the long back straight. It is the most powerful of the four DRS zones. That’s why he lifted earlier and entered the curve with less speed.
After the questioning, the referees looked at the telemetry data from the two cars. They showed that Alonso had let off the accelerator about 100 meters earlier than usual. He even braked slightly, but that would hardly have contributed to the deceleration. More likely that he downshifted more than usual. He then immediately went into higher gear again, only to lift again just before the apex.
Alonso justified this by saying that he had let off the accelerator a little too much the first time and had to correct that again. The sports commissioners showed little interest in the Spaniard’s comments. It was clear to them that the maneuver in question led to Russell’s car unlocking unusually quickly. They cited Article 33.4 of the Sports Law, which states that no driver should drive unnecessarily slowly, erratically and potentially dangerously.
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Fernando Alonso will not publicly admit whether he intentionally wanted to push his opponent into a dangerous situation.
Intentional foul, or not?
The judges asserted that Alonso’s driving style ultimately led to his opponent’s crash was irrelevant to the verdict. They would also have no evidence that the defender intentionally wanted to get his pursuer into trouble or that he was really just following his plan to seek the best possible acceleration.
The commissioners’ answers to two fundamental questions actually exonerated Alonso. Should he be given the right to approach the corner differently than in previous laps? Yes! Should he be blamed for sending the opponent into turbulent air? No!
And yet Alonso should be found guilty, said Tim Mayer, Johnny Herbert, Matteo Perini and Matthew Selley. Because he created a dangerous situation through his excessively unusual driving style, and that too at a very fast part of the course.
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Russell can no longer buy anything from the punishment against Alonso.
Can drivers be told to drive?
Although Aston Martin escaped with a black eye from the team’s perspective, they were not happy with the verdict and sentence. It was recalled that Max Verstappen only received a ten second penalty in Jeddah in 2021 for a real braking test on a straight. The Dutchman hit the brake pedal with a force of 69 kilograms. For Alonso the value was less than ten kilograms.
Alonso’s friend Pedro de la Rosa believes that the stewards have exceeded their authority here: “You can’t tell the drivers how to drive. Not one person deliberately hit the brakes here. Fernando defended his position, and that “It’s part of a racing driver’s repertoire. All the drivers in the field know that. Russell should have anticipated that Fernando would do everything he could to get the perfect exit in Turn 6 because he would be most vulnerable on the long back straight.”
There was also a theory in the paddock that the punishment was particularly severe to distract from the failure of the race management after the accident. Russell’s accident would have called for an immediate red flag. You were in the last round anyway.
Add “lipped” to the dictionary