One of Bernie Ecclestone’s pet Formula One hates was a revised classified race order issued from the stewards a long time after there chequered flag has fallen. The former F1 supremo lobbied the FIA repeatedly to ensure any penalties discovered post the end of a race were handed out in grid drops at the next Grand Prix.

Part of the reason is post race sanctions do not fully remedy the crime of one driver towards another, particularly if the injured party as a result fails to finish the Grand Prix. This was the case down under when George Russell in his Mercedes was chasing down Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso for P6 last time out in Melbourne.

 

 

 

Alonso backs off

On the penultimate lap, Fernando backed off into turn six to set himself up to defend from Russell through the high speed section of Albert Part which is turns seven to nine. With fading tyres, the Spaniard realised his pursuer would be able to get a run on him out of turn six, then with DRS deployed, the silver arrows would easily make its pass on the Aston Martin.

Russell misjudged the closing speed and having caught the dirty air from the back of Fernando’s car, George flew at high speed into the crash barrier.

The stewards decision took over an hour to publish and they found Alonso bizarrely guilty of “potential dangerous driving”, slapped there Spaniard with a rarely seen drive through penalty which converted into a 20 second time added punishment which dropped Fernando from P6 to P8 for Fernando. Yet this did nothing for Russell who was classified DNF and in fact Aston Martin were in a better position than had Russell finished the race either in P7 or in Alonso’s P6.

There was in fact a glimmer of doubt in Russell’s mind over what had happened when he admitted in the media pen the resulting crash is “on me.”

Horner worried RB20 has HUGE weakness

 

 

 

It ‘was on’ Russell

“My take is I’ve gone off and that’s on me, but I was half a second behind Fernando 100 metres before the corner and suddenly he came towards me extremely quick and I was right in his gearbox,” said the Briton.

“I don’t know if he’s got a problem or not, we’re off to the stewards so that’s a bit bizarre in a circumstance like this.”

Despite the stewards being unable to categorically state Alonso WAS driving dangerously, he was also slapped with a hefty three point penalty points punishment added to his super license. Fernando completed the entire 2023 season without being awarded a point on his license which means the current three will expire in twelve months a barring a disaster, the Aston Martin driver will escape any kind of race ban for reaching 12 points.

The incident was discussed by thirteen times Grand Prix winner David Coulthard and founder of the Silverstone based team Eddie Jordan with the former McLaren and Red Bull man of the opinion Alonso has “form”, referring to an incident in Germany back in 2003.

Ferrari boss slams F1 journalists

 

 

 

Fernando has form in 2003

On lap 57 of the F1 Grand Prix at the Nurburgring, David Coulthard came upon a slowing Fernando Alonso and had to swerve around the Spaniard causing Coulthard to spin out of the race. “Alonso braked ten metres earlier than he had the lap before,” said Coulthard. “He was dealing inconsistently with problems, as his rear tyres looked completely worn out. But I just got caught out,” admitted the Scottsman.

Neither driver was penalised back then, yet Eddie Gordon sees the matter differently. The irishman believes it is Russell’s job to “look out” for hazards ahead and it is his responsibility to keep his car on the road.

“I saw it immediately, it was semi-suspicious to the eye,” said Jordan of Alonso’s approach to turn 6. “But remember this, that it is Alonso’s position to defend. And we saw what he did with [Sergio] Perez in Brazil. He let Perez past him so that he could get quicker down the straight. He is a very, very clever driver.”

Eddie believes there are few on the current F1 grid who could “take on Fernando Alonso in mind games, because I think he is above everybody else.”

The one F1 driver Max ‘does not want as a team mate’

 

 

 

Russell ‘will think twice’ next time

“So what happened, only he knows. But it did look to me as if the car slowed. If that’s the case, then it’s up to the driver behind to be able to look out for that.”

Jordon argues it is the driver behind who must take the initiative and expect anything with such close quarter racing, after all Russell had a HUGE accident which could have resulted in serious injury to the British driver.

Eddie thinks this experience will cause George to think twice the next time and “will be very aware when they[he] come up about fighting with Alonso.”

This time the stewards post race penalty decision didn’t affect the podium ceremony which has happened more than once in times gone by, even so Jordan believes once the chequered flag falls, the race result should be final, with any penalties taken at the next event.

Vettel gives “honest answer” on future

 

 

 

FIA penalty system requires change

“However, now I’m going to add something to that, David,” Jordan continued, “and that is I really get so upset when I watch a race, and I think Alonso has finished fifth [sic] or whatever it is, and then he’s demoted three places [sic]…..because it’s not fair on the television, it’s not fair on anyone and it confuses the crap out of everybody’.”

“And I think in my opinion, if they felt something was wrong, they should have said, ‘You’ve got a two-place grid position penalty at the next race’. But don’t take the race position from him. Why the hell should they do that? It’s nonsense

“For heaven’s sake, Formula 1, will you get a grip. The race results is the race results. And if there are penalties, they come in the future.”

Mercedes are languishing down in fourth in the constructors’ championship and Russell’s DNF sees the former world champions just 1 point ahead of Aston Martin. With Suzuka up next and the W15 behaving like its predecessors, the Japanese Grand Prix is likely to be a long old haul for Hamilton and Russell who will be targeting the lower scoring points positions as Red Bull and Ferrari duke it out at the front – with McLaren.

Mercedes finally discover car setup pattern

 

 

 

New evidence F1 is in trouble

Early season F1 viewing audiences MASSIVELY down. The growth of interest in Formula One since Liberty Media acquired the commercial rights from 2017 onwards has been undeniable. The sport had always fawned over the prospects of “cracking America” and now has three US based rounds on the calendar plus Montreal and Mexico rounding out the North American season.

Yet when we consider the middle east now has four F1 events in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi, the number of Grand Prix held in a region does not necessarily indicate local popularity of Formula One…. READ MORE