Lando Norris believes that George Russell should have been better prepared for Fernando Alonso’s driving tactics in the final moments of the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix. Russell lost control of his Mercedes W15 at Turn 6 of the Albert Park circuit after Alonso slowed down in front of him in a defensive manner, resulting in a disabled Silver Arrows car in the middle of the track. Alonso received a 20-second penalty for his actions, but Norris disagrees with the decision. When asked about the incident, Norris replied, “There shouldn’t have been a penalty.”
According to the data, Alonso slowed down earlier than usual approaching Turn 6 at Albert Park, before accelerating and slowing down again to take the corner as he normally would. Alonso admitted that this was an attempt to get a better exit and defend against Russell, who would have had the advantage of DRS. Some argue in favor of Alonso, claiming that this is a standard practice of defensive driving. Norris believes that the penalty has made the issue of driving standards unclear. “It was clear, but now it’s not anymore,” he said. “What Fernando did was extreme, but I don’t think it should be considered a brake test. Should he be penalized in some way? No. In my opinion, George should have seen it coming. I don’t want to comment too much, but George had time to see what was happening.”
Norris also argued that unusual braking maneuvers are even more critical during race starts, where drivers must be constantly alert as they approach Turn 1. “It’s worse going into Turn 1 at the start of a race,” he said. “You have no idea when people are going to brake, but you have to react as soon as they do. So yeah, that’s worse, I would say, than what happened here. But the outcome here was much worse, so I’m sure we’ll have a lot of questions at the drivers’ meeting.”
Alonso believes that if Russell had avoided the accident, his defensive move would not have been a topic of conversation. However, Norris admitted that when there is a disabled car in the middle of the track, “you can’t ignore it.” He added, “I think if there was a fully paved runoff area, it probably wouldn’t have resulted in a penalty. If George had just lost control and re-entered the track without consequences, maybe it would have been considered. But if it was just a runoff area, it would look like George did something. I don’t know, I’m not the one making the decisions, so it’s better for me not to comment – but I love to comment.”
