Alonso and George Russell were called to meet with race officials in Melbourne after a crash on the final lap involving Russell, who was trying to overtake Alonso for sixth place.
Russell was attempting a last-minute pass to Alonso down the back straight when he suddenly encountered the Aston Martin car ahead of them negotiating Turn 6. This caused Russell to lose control and crash heavily, leading to the Virtual Safety Car being deployed to end the race.
Although Russell was not injured, the circumstances of the crash raised suspicions, prompting race stewards to review the incident with both drivers.
After the race, where Alonso finished sixth and Russell ended up outside the points due to his crash, the stewards made their decision. Alonso received a 20-second time penalty and three penalty points on his F1 license for what they deemed as potentially dangerous driving.
According to the stewards, telemetry data showed that Alonso lifted off the throttle much earlier than usual, applied slight braking, and downshifted at a point where he typically wouldn’t.
Alonso explained that he intended to slow down earlier for the corner to improve his exit but misjudged it, resulting in a significant and unexpected speed difference between the cars.
As a result of the penalty, Alonso dropped to ninth place, allowing Lance Stroll and Yuki Tsunoda to move up one position each.
Speaking about the battle with Russell, Alonso mentioned that he was concentrating on the cars ahead and not those behind him. He also expressed relief that Russell was okay after the crash.
