Lando Norris believes that George Russell should have been better prepared for Fernando Alonso’s driving tactics during the final moments of the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix. Russell lost control of his Mercedes W15 at Turn 6 of the Albert Park circuit after Alonso slowed 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 time penalty for his actions, but Norris disagrees with the decision. When asked about the incident, Norris responded, “There shouldn’t be a penalty.”
According to data, Alonso slowed down earlier than usual approaching Turn 6 at Albert Park, before accelerating and slowing 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 defensive driving practice. Norris believes that the penalty has made the issue of driving standards unclear. “It was clear, but now it’s not,” he said. “What Fernando did was extreme, but I don’t think it should be considered a brake test. Should it be penalized in any 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 constantly be on guard approaching Turn 1. “It’s worse going into turn one at the start of a race,” he stated. “You have no idea when people are going to brake, but you have to react as soon as they do. So yeah, that’s a worse case, I would say, than what happened here. But the outcome here was much worse, so I’m sure we’ll have many questions in the drivers’ briefing.”
Alonso believes that if Russell had avoided the crash, his defensive move wouldn’t 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 an all-tarmac run-off, it probably wouldn’t have resulted in a penalty. If George had just lost control and came back onto the track with no consequences, maybe it would have been considered. But if it was just a run-off, it would look like George did something. I don’t know, I’m not the one making the decisions, so it’s probably best for me not to comment – but I love to comment.”