Alonso sides with Verstappen: 'In Abu Dhabi I can do the same as Russell'

The FIA once again came under scrutiny during the Qatar GP. A number of heavy penalties were handed out, including a stop-and-go penalty and a drive-through penalty to Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton respectively. There was also much talk about the decision not to deploy a safety car for the detached mirror that was on the straight. 

Alonso backs Verstappen after incident with Russell

Alonso has little to complain about the decisions made by the stewards and race director Rui Marques during the Formula 1 race. What he finds less pleasing is the one-place grid penalty Verstappen received. "It was okay," Alonso said to the likes of GPblog about the decisions during the race at the Losail International Circuit.

"Max’s penalty yesterday, I don't know. I only read the news that it was one place penalty for… I don't know. He was slow, but George was on a slow lap as well. In Abu Dhabi if I'm on a slow lap, I will push crazy to the car in front to have a penalty, I guess if he's impeding me. That's the only thing that we need to be careful," he continued.

However, the 43-year-old Spaniard also understands that it is a tough weekend for the stewards and the new race director. "But  they have a tough race here. They've been monitoring F3, F2 and F1 in the same weekend and they still do a good job. It's only the second race for the Race Director. So far  he's doing a very good job, so I'm happy at the moment," Alonso concluded.

This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton