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German F1 driver Nico Hulkenberg recently criticized Fernando Alonso for his on-track antics at the 2024 F1 Australian GP.
During the final stages of the race at Albert Park, Fernando Alonso was chased by Mercedes driver George Russell for sixth place. When both approached Turn 6, Russell was trying to keep the gap under a second to get a double DRS advantage on the Aston Martin driver.
However, Alonso unexpectedly slowed down for the corner, which caught George Russell by surprise. The Mercedes driver lost control of the car and crashed extremely hard at Turn 7 barriers. As a result, a virtual safety car was activated, under which the Australian GP ended.
Speaking to the media, Nico Hulkenberg was left unimpressed by the 42-year-old's maneuver after he saw the entire footage of George Russell's crash. He explained how dangerous the Albert Park Circuit was and that F1 cars usually approach Turns 6 and 7 at around 260 kmph.
“When I saw it all I wasn’t very impressed with Fernando's tactics there to be honest. Melbourne, after all, it's kind of a street circuit, it's quite narrow there, we approach that corner with 260, 270 clicks [and] a blind exit,” Hulkenberg said (via RacingNews365).
The Haas driver added that though these kinds of defensive moves are common in F1, he believes Fernando Alonso created a dangerous scenario by doing so at Melbourne in that particular corner.
“Whilst that tactic is quite a common one in Formula 1, in that particular corner with that speed, with a blind exit, I think it's the wrong corner to do it and produced quite a dangerous situation," he added.
Fernando Alonso's thoughts after being penalized at the Australian GP
After the Australian GP ended, Fernando Alonso was summoned by the stewards for his questionable defense against George Russell. The stewards analyzed the entire situation and handed him a 20-second penalty for potentially dangerous driving. Though he finished P6 in the race, the penalty pushed him down to P8.
On his official X account, Alonso wrote:
"A bit surprised by a penalty at the end of the race regarding how we should approach the corners or how we should drive the race cars. At no point do we want to do anything wrong at these speeds. I believe that without gravel on that corner, on any other corner in the world we will never be even investigated."
The Aston Martin driver is currently eighth in the drivers' championship with only 16 points in total.
