Martin Brundle gives his verdict on Fernando Alonso brake testing Lewis Hamilton at the F1 Abu Dhabi GP

F1 pundit Martin Brundle said that he found Fernando Alonso apparently brake-testing Lewis Hamilton during the 2023 F1 Abu Dhabi GP a bit 'strange'.

The former McLaren teammates battled each other for the entirety of the race and often swapped positions while overtaking each other. The Spaniard finished P7 ahead of his arch-rival Lewis Hamilton, who found himself in a lowly P9.

However, the two-time world champion appeared to have brake-tested Hamilton ahead of the first DRS zone on the track to protect himself from getting overtaken by the seven-time world champion. Fernando Alonso slowed down heavily to allow Hamilton to overtake him, so he could get the DRS and pass him immediately.

In his column on Sky Sports, Martin Brundle found the whole incident a bit sketchy and said:

"There was a strange incident when Fernando Alonso emerged from the pits and appeared to heavily brake test Lewis, which caught him off guard. Fernando was hoping to let Lewis through the DRS detection point first ready for the long straights, but it all looked rather sketchy, to say the least,"

In his post-race interview, Fernando Alonso gave his take on the incident and said (via The Mirror):

"Lewis is obviously very clever and understands the sport really well and has a lot of experience but I have more. We did the same in Canada in 2013, so 11 years after that episode, we tried to give the DRS to the other guy, braking for Turn 5 but in both cases, I won so it is okay."

Fernando Alonso looks back on his debut season with Aston Martin

Fernando Alonso finished P4 in the driver's championship, level on points with Charles Leclerc but led on countback due to his superior record of P2 finishes.

Speaking with F1.com, the Aston Martin F1 driver stated that the feat was a bit surprising and said:

"If you’d told me before this weekend that I’d finish fourth in the Drivers’ Championship, I wouldn’t have believed you – so this is a real gift. I’m really pleased with the way I’ve driven all season – I think this has been my best, most consistent season of driving since 2012. I think I got the maximum from the car all season."

"The whole Aston Martin team has worked incredibly hard, and I am already looking forward to going into the winter and starting work for next season.

It will be fascinating to see if Aston Martin and Alonso will have a more consistent season overall in 2024.