Fernando Alonso has been handed a time penalty for 2o seconds for “potentially dangerous driving” at the Australian Grand Prix. Alonso and George Russell were fighting for P6 for most of the last stint of the race. However, on the penultimate lap of the race, the Mercedes man ran wide while chasing the 2x world champion and crashed. Since then both drivers have offered their take on the incident.

After the race, the Spaniard delivered a message during his post-race interview. He said, “I was focusing in front of me and not behind. I had some issues for the last 15 laps or something on the battery and deployment which I was managing. So, yeah, definitely I was struggling a little bit at the end of the race, but I cannot focus on the cars behind. He’s okay. I saw the car and I was very worried.”

“Sure, I knew that he was coming and he was on the DRS, for already five or six laps so, yeah, he was very close. As I said, I was just doing qualifying laps and trying to maximise the pace, but it was not an easy race, not an easy weekend in general in terms of pace,” Alonso said when asked about whether he had been concentrating more on what was going on ahead.

Russell had been chasing Alonso in the last few laps and looked to overtake him. But the Mercedes driver lost control of his car and hit the barriers after being caught by rapidly closing in on the back of the Aston Martin negotiating Turn 6. The crash put the Brit’s car in the middle of the track which resulted in a frantic, “Red flag, red flag, I’m in the middle of the track, red, red, red, I’m in the middle,” message from him.

After the race, the stewards summoned both Alonso and Russell. Alonso was hit with a 20-second time penalty and given three penalty points on his F1 super license. There was a belief that Alonso had brake-tested Russell during the race and the Brit driver shared his take.

George Russell gives his perspective on the last-lap crash

The Brit was clearly anxious after his crash which put him right in the line of fire. However, after he safely exited the car, he replayed the whole incident and said Alonso’s driving on the last lap was what led to his crash. Russell claimed Alonso braked much earlier than expected and it took him by surprise in the run-up to the corner.

He said, “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.”

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When asked whether Alonso brake-tested him Russell said, “It’s clear that he braked 100 metres before the corner and then we’re back on the throttle again and took the corner normally. I was half a second behind him approaching the corner and then suddenly he slowed up very dramatically and gone back on the power.”

Russell’s words do suggest that he feels Alonso’s last-lap move led to his crash. The crash meant Mercedes gained no points from the Australian GP with Lewis Hamilton retiring from the race due to a power unit failure on lap 17. Alonso’s penalty meant that he ended up with a P8 finish.

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The crash could lead to some friction between the two drivers who might become teammates soon. But for now, Russell and Mercedes would be left disappointed after a forgettable Melbourne experience.