Russell crash is down to Alonso
‘ERRATIC’ SPANIARD PENALISED
FERNANDO ALONSO was accused of “erratic and potentially dangerous” driving which caused George Russell’s Mercedes to smash into the wall and flip on to its side.
Russell crashed out of the Melbourne race as he pushed to catch Alonso on the penultimate lap at Albert Park.
But the Aston Martin racer braked early heading into a corner, catching the Briton by surprise.
Russell lost control and ploughed into the wall before his car came to rest on its side in the middle of the track.
He was unhurt but the stewards took a dim view of Alonso’s driving, even though their cars did not touch.
The stewards said data had shown Alonso lifted off the throttle more than 100m earlier than he had done at that corner on any previous lap.
The Spaniard was slapped with a 20-second time penalty which dropped him from sixth to eighth in the final standings.
Russell said: “I was right behind him for many laps, was half-asecond behind approaching the corner and then, suddenly, he slowed up very dramatically before going back on the power.”
That crash, and Lewis Hamilton’s engine failure, meant Mercedes left Australia with zero points to show for their efforts. They sit fourth in the championship with just 26 points from three races.
Hamilton’s DNF compounded his underwhelming results of just seventh and ninth taken from the first two races of the year in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
The seven-time world champion said: “This is the worst start of the season I’ve ever had.”
Pole-sitter Max Verstappen only managed four laps before a brake fire melted the rear-right corner of his Red Bull, forcing him to retire.
A fuel leak prematurely ended his 2022 race in Melbourne.
The 26-year-old still leads the drivers’ championship.
He said: “Of course, you never like to see it happen – but it’s more important now that we understand why it happened.”