F1 News
Alonso doesn't understand his penalty: 'That's part of motorsport'
Fernando Alonso is surprised to have received a penalty for his action on the final lap of the Australian Grand Prix. The Spaniard braked earlier than he did in the rounds before, after which George Russell crashed very hard.
The stewards decided to give the two-time world champion a time penalty. Alonso had 20 seconds added to his time, moving him from P6 to P8. This benefited Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda.
Alonso angered by penalty after Australia GP
On X, Alonso let it be known that he does not understand that he was punished for his action: "A bit surprised by a penalty at the end of the race regarding how we should approach the corners or how we should drive the race cars. At no point do we want to do anything wrong at these speeds. I believe that without gravel on that corner, on any other corner in the world we will never be even investigated."
He continued: "In F1, with over 20 years of experience, with epic duels like Imola 2005/2006/ Brazil 2023, changing racing lines, sacrificing entry speed to have good exits from corners is part of the art of motorsport. We never drive at 100% every race lap and every corner, we save fuel, tires, brakes, so being responsible for not making every lap the same is a bit surprising. We have to accept it and think about Japan, to have more pace and fight for positions further up the field."