George Russell on his crash in Australia: “If Fernando Alonso had not been penalized, it would have opened a Pandora’s box”

The burning issue of the accident at the end of the race by the driver Mercedes was addressed during the press conference on Thursday in Suzuka.

As a reminder, George Russell had used fresher tires to chase Fernando Alonso in the final laps of the race. When the Mercedes driver quickly closed in on his Aston Martin rival at the top of turn 6, he lost control, slid into the barriers, and came to a stop in the middle of the track.

The stewards chose to review the situation after the race. After studying all the data and discussing with both drivers, they determined that Alonso had driven in a potentially dangerous manner. He is then given a 20-second time penalty and loses 3 points on his license.

As the drivers gathered again at Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix, Russell and Alonso were invited to discuss the incident.

Russell doesn’t hold a grudge against Alonso

« I think it was obviously a bit of a strange situation that occurred last week,” Russell said. « As I mentioned at the time, I was completely taken by surprise. In fact, I was looking at the steering wheel, making a switch change in the straight line, which we all do throughout the lap. When I looked up, I was in Fernando’s gearbox and it was a bit too late, then the next thing I knew, I was in the wall,” he added.

« I think that if he had not been penalized, it would have really opened a Pandora’s box for the rest of the season and in the junior categories, for example, are you allowed to brake on a straight line? Are you allowed to slow down, change gear, accelerate, do something semi-erratic? »

Beyond fear for the Briton, he does not hold the double world champion accountable. « I don’t take anything personally from what happened with Fernando. It probably had more significant consequences than expected. Nothing more to say, really. »

When asked whether he had spoken to Alonso after his penalty, Russell shared some amusing encounters, revealing that: « In fact, we saw each other at home, we crossed paths by chance in a cafe. As I’ve said before, it’s nothing personal, when the helmet is on, we are all fighters and in competition, and when the helmet comes off, you respect each other. Of course, a lot of emotions at the time, but we both moved on. »

As for Alonso, he reiterated his surprise at the verdict of the sports commissioners and remains totally against it. “I think it was a one-off,” commented the Spaniard. “It will never happen again in the same way, and I think we will never see a decision like in Australia again. I accept it, I take it. I’ve had quite a few of those, too many of them in my career, and I hope or at least no one else has this kind of result, so I take it.”

« Obviously, the FIA will try to explain to us and give us some guidelines. I think it will be difficult to agree, we are 20 drivers, we all have different opinions »; he explains.

But they have the power to decide and we have to accept it, we can’t do anything. It is obviously useless to go back and discuss too much. We move forward and I hope that we are a little further apart, the cars, here.