“F1 is a joke”; “That was pretty dirty”: Fernando Alonso’s 20-second penalty leaves fans divided on the internet

F1 fans were divided after the FIA handed Fernando Alonso a 20-second penalty for his involvement in George Russell's crash in the 2024 Australian GP.

The Aston Martin driver was trying his hardest to defend his P6 from the young Brit in the final phase of the race. However, things got a bit tight for the pair on the race's penultimate lap when Russell got too close to Alonso's AMR24 and crashed into the wall.

The crash's impact left the Mercedes driver upside down in the middle of the track. The race stewards noted the incident and later gave a drive-through penalty which converted to a 20-second penalty to Fernando Alonso, demoting him from P6 to P8. The race stewards explained the decision in a statement (via F1.com):

“Alonso explained to the stewards that he intended to approach Turn 6 differently, lifting earlier, and with less speed into the corner, to get a better exit,” read the stewards’ report. Telemetry shows that Alonso lifted slightly more than 100m earlier than he ever had going into that corner during the race."

They added:

"He also braked very slightly at a point that he did not usually brake and he downshifted at a point he never usually downshifted."

F1 fans took to social media to react to Fernando Alonso's penalty on X, with one fan claiming that the sport was a 'joke' and pointing the blame on Russell, saying:

"F1 is a joke. Russell should learn how to not bin it."

Here are some more reactions defending Alonso:

Some fans claimed that the decision was right and the Aston Martin driver was to blame:

"Good. That was pretty dirty. No need to do it as well."

Fernando Alonso analyzes his performance at the Australian GP

Fernando Alonso stated that he was nursing an issue in the final part of the race and wasn't looking behind while defending from George Russell.

Speaking with Sky Sports, the two-time world champion said:

"Obviously I was focusing in front of me and not behind. I had some issues for the last 15 laps or something on the battery, on the deployment, so definitely I was struggling a little bit at the end of the race but I cannot focus on the car behind. But he's ok, apparently. I saw the car and I was very worried."

It is to be seen if Aston Martin will protest the stewards decision for the penalty in the coming days.