Alonso received a penalty and dropped to eighth place

Australian Grand Prix stewards have fined Fernando Alonso for braking earlier than normal before turn six on the final lap of the race, causing George Russell to fly off the track.

The Aston Martin driver explained to the stewards that he released the accelerator earlier than usual before the bend, because he wanted to get out of the bend better. In turn, George Russell called the maneuver unexpected: the Mercedes driver was too close to his opponent, the front wing lost some of the downforce and he flew into the gravel.

After reviewing telemetry data from Alonso’s car, the stewards determined that Fernando had released the accelerator pedal 100 meters earlier than ever before during the race and even touched the brake pedal where he would not normally use it. The stewards noted that braking was not the main reason the car slowed down.

Furthermore, Alonso downshifted at a point on the track where he had never downshifted before. He then upshifted again, accelerated and then released the accelerator before turning.

Alonso explained his actions by saying he intended to slow down earlier to handle the corner differently, but he made a mistake and took steps to increase his speed.

The stewards felt that these maneuvers caused a significant and unusual closing speed of the cars, which was potentially dangerous given the speed at that point on the track.

The stewards gave Fernando Alonso three penalty points (he now has three in the 12-month period) and added twenty seconds to his finishing time. This moved Fernando from sixth to eighth place in the protocol.