Fernando Alonso is often referred to as the villain of Formula 1. The 42-year-old driver is one of the most respected but feared drivers on the circuit. He is known to be cold, and he does whatever it takes to get a win. This has led to him putting other drivers in quite a dangerous position. Just like what happened during the Australian Grand Prix.

During the final lap of the Australian Grand Prix, there was an incident between Fernando Alonso and George Russell which led the latter to wreck their car. The crash looked quite scary on Russell’s end but luckily he was unharmed. What exactly happened is that Alonso braked hard while turning, which threw the Mercedes driver off his center, leading to a scary crash. The Steward in charge decided to give the Spaniard a penalty, and this did not sit well with Alonso’s fans.

Fernando Alonso’s fans are harassing Johnny Herbert on social media

For the Australian Grand Prix, former F1 racer, Johnny Herbert, was the pilot commissioner. He had a big role in the decision that led to Alonso’s penalty and this upset the Spanish Champion’s fans. Upset fans took to social media to express their disappointment, and some took it too far. While there were some criticizing messages, there was an alarming ‘flurry of death threats’ too. As reported by Soymotor, Herbert came forth to address the threats and give his take on them.

The former F1 driver stated, “I was a marshal at the Melbourne GP and the repercussions were terrible, I received a barrage of death threats through social media. I’m lucky to have broad shoulders. I find it pathetic that they threw me under the bus.” Describing the messages and comments received, he said, “There were messages with dagger emojis at the bottom of the screen, people saying, ‘We know where you live; we’ll come after you.” He revealed that “the majority [of threats] were Spanish.” 

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Fans considered Johnny Herbert’s racing record and he explained this and said, “People also said that, since he had never been a world champion, he was not qualified to give an opinion.” Now that he is a Steward, unfortunately, this is a common occurrence where fans or drivers are unhappy with the decisions and they react a certain way. “The threats lasted two weeks and they continue to come. It is part of the world of social networks, where everyone has an opinion but no facts to back it up,” said Herbert, and he has accepted that this is not the first or last time it will happen.

Despite that, he wants to continue working as a Steward, and he also mentioned how such incidents do not affect him. However, this is not the first time Fernando Alonso and Johnny Herbert have had friction.

Fernando Alonso and Johnny Herbert beef

The former racer explained the incident from when he was working with Sky, saying, “It goes back to Bahrain a few years ago, I think. A few years before, when I was with McLaren, Alonso had been on the radio, criticizing the engine almost every race, saying it was like a GP2 engine.” The Forner driver further explained that he reached a boiling point of listening to complaints before he made his statement. 

Herbert stated, “I said that if Alonso didn’t like it, he should leave the team. I didn’t say he should retire.” He elaborated on what happened after makig the comments, saying, “Then he approached me live in Bahrain and told me that he was a world champion and that he would not retire to become a commentator because you were not a world champion.”

Alonso used his better racing record to put down Johnny Herbert in the past. After knowing this, it became confusing as to whether this was done intentionally as revenge or if it was a decision to maintain fairness in the sport. Either way, death threats are no way to go about this situation. It is highly unacceptable and only encourages negativity in the community. Understandably, the Spanish fans are passionate, but such actions only put their stances down, and that is something no one wanted.

That being said, do you think Alonso deserved the 10-second penalty? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.