Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer has highlighted a similar incident involving Lewis Hamilton to show the inconsistency with the way Fernando Alonso was punished after George Russell's Australian Grand Prix crash, but he was not punished. I didn't receive it.
Hamilton's Mercedes teammate Russell was trying to catch up with Alonso for sixth place in the closing stages of the race at Albert Park, but as Alonso slowed heading into Turn 6, Russell lost control and crashed into the wall. His W15 stopped midway through. The race ends under a virtual safety car.
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Stewards found Alonso guilty of “potentially dangerous” driving and handed him a drive-through penalty worth 20 seconds, plus a 3. Added points.
However, in his contribution to the F1 website, Palmer compared the incident to what happened at the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where Alonso exited the pit lane and slowed down in front of Hamilton in a battle with DRS. I cited this as an example of gamesmanship. However, Alonso was punished and showed significant discrepancies between the stewards' responses to each of these incidents.
Palmer believes the dramatic nature of the accident played a role in the harsh penalty Alonso received in Melbourne.
“Could this have been dangerous, erratic driving and caused the accident for George Russell? First, let's cover up whether it was erratic driving,” Palmer said of Alonso and Russell's fight I looked at it again and started talking.
“Fernando was talking about looking back at George Russell, but actually you can see that this is a little bit out of line with Alonso.
“As we approach, [to Turn 6], back off the throttle, get back on the throttle and enter the corner. This was unusual and meant that Russell caught him at a much higher speed than anyone expected chasing the other car.
“Certainly, this was an anomaly. Alonso had never done that in the previous 56 laps, and he had never done it to anyone else. It's not something you would particularly expect from a driver behind you.
“So there's an adjustment from Alonso. Why did he do that? Right after this is the biggest overtaking spot on the circuit, so there's DRS and a long run to Turns 9 and 10, where Russell used to close in. That's where I was.
“And he's trying to play a game with Russell, trying to throw the Mercedes driver off track, and it actually backfires and the Mercedes driver ends up in the wall. Indeed, here There is a case of erratic driving. It appears that the driver is driving erratically.
“But the next question is, has erratic driving always been punished? The answer is no.
“Because this is Fernando Alonso, who did exactly the same thing in front of Lewis Hamilton in Abu Dhabi just three races ago.
“When Alonso came out of the pits, Hamilton had a Mercedes behind the Aston Martin on a flying lap, but he backed off well before the braking zone and Hamilton had to back up to stay behind Alonso. They're playing a DRS game here, a bit similar to what Alonso was trying to do in Melbourne.
“Importantly, there was no penalty. Three races ago Fernando Alonso had no consequences, but in Melbourne he had a big drive-through penalty and lost 20 seconds of race time. The penalties exceeded those imposed in many recent cases.
“So, erratic driving, yes, from Alonso. But is it consistent with what happened before? In this case, the answer is no. So, whether the stewards like it or not, I'm sure we've looked at the consequences of George Russell finishing inside the barrier, when he actually ended up in the middle of the track, making the crash seem more dramatic than it actually was.
“And I believe that is why Alonso has been thoroughly investigated and considered for punishment in this case.”
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Palmer also believes that Russell should accept some, if not all, of the blame for this incident, saying there was plenty of space between him and Alonso heading into Turn 6, making this a dangerous driving move. This suggests that Russell lost control of the W15 rather than the problem. Alonso's dirty air.
“There's quite a bit of space between the two cars,” Palmer continued. “It's true that Alonso is driving erratically right now. But is it this dangerous? Because there's a huge gap between Alonso's car and Russell's car.
“And this is not a traditional brake test, so to speak, where the car behind has to hit the brakes to avoid a collision with the car in front.
“It simply means that he got too close at full racing speed and caught some dirty air, which caused George to oversteer, correct and hit the wall.”
“Overall, watching from Russell's onboard, certainly Alonso is off the pace, certainly technically unstable, and that definitely gives the stewards a reason to penalize him. I can't help but feel that it's an inconsistent penalty, but technically there's plenty of space between the two cars, although it's difficult for Alonso to argue with this particular situation. .
“And as he went into the race, was there anything Russell could have done other than brake a little earlier instead of going full speed, which is pretty much what he did earlier in the race? Could he have finally finished the race at the same “barrier”? Indeed, George must bear at least some, if not all, of the blame.
“It's a blurry picture, but I know that Alonso operates in these gray areas, whether it's in Abu Dhabi last year or his cheeky yellow flag in Baku qualifying a few years ago. There are countless instances where Fernando Alonso operates in these gray areas to prevent people from improving.
“Certainly there is an argument to punish him. In my opinion, it could be a little harsher on Fernando. I don't think his actions were particularly dangerous. He backed up a little bit between two cars. I think there was enough space to do that.
“And the two machines were never close together, there was always plenty of space. It's simply a matter of dirty air and we feel like we're opening a can of worms with that problem. Thing.”
Neither Mercedes driver took the checkered flag in Melbourne, with Hamilton retiring early in the race due to engine trouble.
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