A prominent Spanish motor racing official has vocally criticized the contentious penalty assigned to Fernando Alonso after the Melbourne Grand Prix. The penalty came after some speculated that George Russell experienced his severe crash in the event's final moments due to being 'brake-tested' by Alonso, a move considered highly perilous and occasionally deadly.
However, the penalty has been met with significant criticism, especially as one of the stewards in Melbourne was former Formula 1 driver Johnny Herbert, who has had past high profile disagreements with the two-time champion, Alonso. Joaquin Verdegay, the Vice President of Spain's motor racing federation (RFEdA), expressed his disapproval to Soy Motor: "That Herbert decides something that harms Alonso seems somewhat reprehensible to me," highlighting the well-known strained relationship between Herbert and Alonso.
In an unusual step, Mike Krack, the Aston Martin team principal, released a press statement on Tuesday expressing disappointment with Alonso's penalty, given "there was no contact with the following car," describing it as a "bitter pill to swallow." Krack lamented the lack of new evidence which prevented the team from seeking a review of the decision.
Verdegay went on to argue that similar incidents within Formula 1 often receive disparate treatment, which he views as unjust. "Either one penalty is exaggeratedly soft or another is exaggeratedly harsh, because the same event, logically, should be sanctioned with the same penalty," he stated, questioning the fairness and proportionality of the sanction imposed on Alonso.
Verdegay, who has served as a Formula 1 steward both formerly and still occasionally, recalled "the worst brake test ever done" involving Ralf Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve at Melbourne in 2001, which tragically resulted in an official's death due to a tyre impact. He firmly maintained that what occurred with Alonso did not constitute a brake test, underscoring the potential deadly consequences of such actions.
"It ended in the worst possible way," he said, "with an official dead as a result of a tyre impact. A brake test can cause people to die and what happened with Alonso was not a brake test."
