Fernando Alonso: I don’t think it was a dangerous maneuver

Australian Grand Prix stewards fined Fernando Alonso 20 seconds off his time and three penalty points for causing George Russell’s accident. As a result, the Spanish driver moved up from sixth to eighth in the race protocol and his teammate Lance Stroll gained one position to finish sixth.

Aston Martin disagrees with the fine, but will not contest it.

Lance walk (6th): “A solid race and I’m happy to get some points. I had a good start and gained a few places on the first lap and then rode at my own pace.

As expected, the main difficulty was managing tire wear, given the high degradation, but I did well and the team developed an effective strategy for the race. The pace could have been faster, but we leave Australia knowing we got the most out of the car.”

Fernando Alonso (8th): “I was lucky when the virtual safety car mode was activated after Lewis Hamilton retired. Then I was happy when I was behind Sergio Perez and could use DRS, but those seconds gained ultimately turned out to be meaningless.

In the last laps George quickly overtook me. I knew he would come; he followed me for five to six laps in the DRS zone. I had to do qualifying laps to stay ahead.

I wanted to get out of Turn 6 as best I could to protect myself from him. Any racer would do this, and I don’t think it was a dangerous maneuver. I’m disappointed that the stewards decided to give a penalty because it was a tough but fair race. Still, I’m glad George is doing well. It was unpleasant to see his car on the other side of the track.

Not our best weekend in terms of pace, but the race went well: great strategy, incredible pit stops and great reliability. I think we earned even more points today than the car’s speed allowed, but we will survive.”

Mike Krak, team manager: “Strong performance at Albert Park – we earned twelve points. Many thanks to both drivers who converted starting positions into points with two very different tire strategies.

Lance rode extremely well all weekend and carried that form all the way to the checkered flag. Fernando benefited from a virtual safety car. It was a surprise to us when he dropped to eighth place after the finish due to a penalty, but we accept this decision. This will not spoil our mood on such a successful day. The strategic decisions made on the pit wall were spot on and the whole team performed extremely well.”