Alonso is demoted to P8. Stroll: P7-> P6 Tsunoda: P8-> P7
Alonso should know by now that you’re only allowed to drive according to strict FIA guidelines. There’s no “racing” in F1, only passing cars that behave predictably at all times on the approved DRS straits.
I can see this being a controversial penalty considering a part of the blame does fall on Russell for not reacting to Alonso slowing down (checking from the driver cam he seems to have plenty of time to react), but overall I think Alonso does deserve the penalty. I’m not sure what he was trying to accomplish but his deliberate actions cost Russell the race.
He tried to compromise his entry to gain some exit speed, giving him a better chance to defend from Russel
Perez drove an entire lap while going deliberately slow in every corner of sector 3 in Abu Dhabi and didn’t get penalized. Hamilton didn’t bin the car either. Considering that, there is no way this penalty is justified. What if Alonso had a sudden PU issue slowing him down¿? Would Russell still blame Alonso for the crash when it is his responsibility to react and maintain control¿?
going consistently slow in the corners is a lot different than suddenly going very slow in a single corner.
The penalty wasn’t about being slow, it was about being erratic. This was effectively the same as weaving, except it was with the brake and throttle instead of the steering wheel.
Perez drove an entire lap while going deliberately slow in every corner of sector 3 in Abu Dhabi and didn’t get penalized. Hamilton didn’t bin the car either. Considering that, there is no way this penalty is justified.
FIA being inconsistent is the norm. Last year Norris got a penalty for driving slowly despite not really obstructing anyone. If you want my opinion, then Perez should’ve also received a penalty.
What if Alonso had a sudden PU issue slowing him down¿? Would Russell still blame Alonso for the crash when it is his responsibility to react and maintain control¿?
If he doesn’t get off the racing line, yes. The first thing any driver does when they have a severe PU issue is get off the racing line. Just like Russell should’ve had time to react, in this hypothetical scenario Alonso would’ve also had time to react and get off the racing line. Alonso should’ve received a penalty even if it was a PU issue that caused him to slow down that much.
Fernando isn’t guilty of anything more than the drivers desperately holding on to P10 for the final point every race or sandbagging to help a teammate, and I don’t recall a penalty of this severity getting dumped on any of them.
George reacted too slowly, probably thinking about the move he was going to make instead of the action happening in front of him.
I’m not saying it was fair or George was at fault, but I don’t agree with the penalty applied either.
I think any driver defending in a manner that puts the other driver at risk should be penalized. That’s not a controversial opinion, we literally have rules against such behavior when it’s very obvious (break checking and weaving). In this case he slowed down into a turn where he was guaranteed to get in Russell’s way. Even if Russell had reacted in time he still would’ve been forced to slow down because it would’ve been next to impossible for him to pass Alonso in that turn. And we know what happened when Russell didn’t react in time. It’s erratic driving by Alonso and that deserves a penalty.
I haven’t seen the race or incident yet.
But that’s some big rookie iracing energy from Russell. Blaming the other car for braking too early.
Edit:
I have since watched the incident. My original thought stands. What a bullshit penalty.
I know all of the Alonso fans are in a tizzy over this, but it was an appropriate penalty.
Everyone upset seems to be buying the line that he was taking the corner slower to get a better exit. That would be late apexing. When you do that, you brake LATER and turn into the corner LATER (at a sharper angle), then apply throttle EARLIER. Alonso’s actions are inconsistent with an intent to get a better exit.
He broke earlier. Then he sped up. He entered the corner on the usual line with extra traction available. Then he jabbed the brakes mid corner. If he had taken the corner at normal speeds, that would have absolutely upset the car, so this was PLANNED. Immediately after jabbing the brakes he is back on throttle and accelerating out of the corner.
I believe his intention was to force Russel to react to his behavior, then accelerate away while Russell reacts to him braking, to build an extra bit of gap to neutralize the drs advantage.
This was absolutely a brake check. Alonso has done this many times before, and he usually gets away with it because it is on the line or he has a plausible excuse for his actions. This time he screwed up and took it over the line.
You know his intentions here because he was immediately on the radio making up an excuse for his actions. Except that excused didn’t jive with the telemetry so he had to give the stewards a DIFFERENT excuse which still isn’t plausible (see late apex above).
This penalty isn’t punishing him for driving defensively. It won’t result in drivers getting penalties for parking their car on the apex. This penalty was about erratic driving that compromises the safety of other cars and drivers on the track. The outcome here is direct evidence of the safety concern.
As much as you may not like Russel or question his skills, ask yourself what would have happened to other drivers in this situation? I would argue 2/3 of the other drivers would have bottled it the same way he did.
If you look at the throttle trace this is a slam dunk erratic driving penalty. Brake checking is not tough racing, it is dirty racing.
Brake checking to erratic driving should be clearly identifiable as having an abrupt drop in speed. The trace here is meaningless as there is in fact more than one way to drive thru a corner and a trace will only will only highlight that.
What I would love to see is George’s telemetry response to Alonso, because George’s on boards appear to show him barreling ahead while Alonso’s harvest lights are flashing.
360 windmill example here of reckless driving, on behalf of the Mercedes.
