The two-time Formula 1 Champion was defending against Russell from the Mercedes team in the latter stages of the race, with Russell attacking with a tire advantage.
However, on the final lap, Russell lost control of his W15 at the exit of Turn 6, crashing heavily into the barriers and ending up stranded in the middle of the track after Alonso appeared to slow down significantly, causing the #63 Mercedes to lose downforce.
Immediately after the race, Alonso insisted he did nothing wrong, stating to Sky Sports F1: “Obviously I was focusing on what was ahead of me and not what was behind. I had some issues with the battery and deployment in the last 15 laps or so, so I was struggling a bit towards the end of the race, but I couldn’t focus on the car behind me. But he’s okay, apparently. I saw the car and I was very worried,” added Alonso.
On the other hand, Russell did not want to be drawn into any conclusions and also admitted that he should take some blame for not anticipating Alonso’s slowdown.
He said: “In my opinion, I went off the track and that’s my fault. I was half a second behind Fernando 100 meters before the corner, and then suddenly he came towards me very quickly and I was right on his tail. I don’t know if he had a problem or not. He’s being called to the stewards, which is a bit strange in a situation like this. I don’t have anything else to say right now. I need to review everything, but I’m just disappointed to end the race like this. It’s clear that he braked 100 meters before the corner and then got back on the throttle and took the corner normally. We’ve already seen the data for that,” pointed out the Briton.
However, Russell insisted that he would wait for the stewards’ ruling before accusing Alonso of any wrongdoing. He said: “I’m not going to accuse him of anything until we have more information. I was right behind him for many laps. I was half a second behind him before the corner. Then suddenly, he slowed down dramatically and accelerated again. I wasn’t expecting it, and it caught me by surprise. That part is on me. It’s interesting that he’s been called to the stewards. I’m curious to hear what they have to say,” maintained the Mercedes driver.
Now, the stewards have announced their decision on the incident and stated in a post-race statement that Alonso was found to have driven in a manner that was “potentially dangerous” and in violation of Article 33.4 of the sporting regulations, which state that “A car must not be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically, or in a manner that could be considered potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person.”
As a result, Alonso has been given a drive-through penalty, which translates to a 20-second time penalty after the race, dropping him from sixth to eighth place in the race classification.
Additionally, the Aston Martin driver has received three penalty points on his license.