George Russell feels F1 risked opening a 'can of worms' with the Fernando Alonso incident in Australia

George Russell feels Fernando Alonso’s penalty was necessary to prevent further use of edgy tactics for both F1 drivers and drivers in junior categories. Speaking in the drivers' press conference of the 2024 Japanese GP, the Briton suggested that if the Spaniard’s move in the Australian GP wasn’t penalised then it would have set the wrong precedent for everyone.

The Spanish champion had slowed down significantly at a corner in the Australian race, due to which George Russell behind him had to brake heavily and lost control of his car. As a result, the Briton’s car spun and flipped in the middle of the track causing a retirement.

The Aston Martin driver was penalised with a 20-second penalty which polarised a lot of the opinion. While some think it was not done intentionally, many felt the double champion had pulled out another one of his tricks which he miscalculated.

Justifying the necessity of the penalty, George Russell said:

“I think if it were not to have been penalised, it would have really opened a can of worms for the rest of the season. And [also] in junior categories of saying, 'Are you allowed to break in a straight? Are you allowed to slow down, change gear, accelerate, do something semi-erratic?'."

“I don't take anything personally with what happened with Fernando, and it probably had bigger consequences than it should have. It's nothing personal. When the helmet is on we're all fighters and competing. When the helmet is off, you have respect for one another. So [there are] a lot of emotions in the moment, but we both move forward from this.”

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George Russell describes incident with Fernando Alonso as a strange one

George Russell felt the incident with Fernando Alonso was a strange one as he was caught unaware. According to the Briton, he had not time to respond to the Spanish driver slowing down and it resulted in him losing control of his car. His car had stopped in the middle of the track on the penultimate lap of the race, which should have ideally qualified for a red flag.

Describing the incident to the onsite media, George Russell said:

“I think it was a bit of a strange situation that happened. As I said at the time, [I was] totally caught by surprise. I was actually looking at the steering wheel, making a switch change in the straight, which we all do across the lap, and when I looked up, I was in Fernando's gearbox. It was too late and then the next thing I know, I’m in the wall.”

Mercedes had two retirements in Australia, with George Russell on the final lap of the race and Lewis Hamilton who suffered from a power unit failure. It has resulted in the Silver Arrows being eclipsed in the constructors standings by its customer team McLaren.

With three races done, they have scored a total of 26 points whereas the Woking team has scored a total of 55 points. Having started the season in Bahrain at second place in the standings, the Brackley team have now been demoted to fourth place.