Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso said he was “surprised” by the penalty he received at the Australian Grand Prix.
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Alonso was penalized 20 seconds for “potentially dangerous driving”, after an incident that led to a heavy crash with Mercedes’ George Russell. Talking to the stewards, the two-time world champion said he had “got it slightly wrong”.
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The Spaniard admitted he had braked too early at Turn Six and then accelerated again. With the penalty, Alonso dropped from sixth to eighth place in the standings. In addition, he received three penalty points on his license.
“A bit surprised by a penalty at the end of the race regarding how we should approach the corners or how we should drive the race cars. At no point do we want to do anything wrong at these speeds”, said Alonso after the decision.