Fernando Alonso and George Russell were involved in a battle for sixth place in the closing stages. Russell had been under the Spaniard’s rear wing for laps until he missed a corner on the final lap.
Russell’s Mercedes hit the tire wall and was thrown back onto the circuit. The race ended with a virtual safety car, fortunately the Englishman was unhurt.
“To be honest, I really don’t know what exactly happened,” Russell responded after the race. “I was half a second behind Fernando, but when I entered the corner I almost hit his gearbox. Then I lost control and went off.”
The stewards viewed the images and decided to impose a 20-second penalty on Alonso. He falls from 6th place to 8th place in the results, while teammate Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda benefit.
The stewards explain their reasons in a detailed report. “In his explanation to us that he wanted to approach Turn 6 differently. He wanted to slow down a little more to have a better outcome of the turn,” the report says.
However, Alonso, who is known for being able to do everything he can when defending, miscalculated and that was partly the cause of Russell’s crash.
Also from the stewards’ report: “Does Alonso have the right to approach a corner differently? Yes. Is Alonso responsible for the “dirty air” that caused the crash? No. But did he drive erratically? Yes.”
That is why the stewards, who have to monitor driving behavior during every race in Formula 1, have decided to punish Alonso for “potentially dangerous driving”.
Tags: WATCH Fernando Alonso penalized dangerous driving George Russell crashed
