“25 drivers start every season in F1, and each year two of us die. What kind of person does a job like this?,” said Niki Lauda (played by Daniel Bruhl in the movie Rush). But this was back in the 70s and 80s. F1 of today is the safest it has ever been. Imagine Romain Grosjean walking out from that scary crash in the 2020 Bahrain GP. The latest ‘scary’ crash is that of George Russell, for which Fernando Alonso received a severe penalty of 20 seconds and 3 penalty points on his license. But after the latest revelation, the Ferrari manager believes we should be asking Russell some questions.
The last lap crash of George Russell left him so vulnerable at Albert Park that he was heard pleading on the radio for a red flag as he was in the middle of the track with his broken car balancing on one and a half wheels. It was understood that Fernando braked earlier, as compared to his performance throughout the race. Stewards believed that this was what led to George’s toppling.
Talking on his YouTube live, Peter Windsor said,
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He further added, “And nobody’s taking him into account because it’s quite a serious thing to be saying that I think I wasn’t watching, so I had a crash.”
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Fernando Alonso, who completely disagreed with this penalty, would be happy to hear that F1 pundits are questioning Russell’s ‘alertness’ in the race. But what Nando won’t be very happy with is the performance of Aston Martin.
“‘Alonso factor’ that spoils everything”: Fernando’s performance analyzed by Pedro de la Rosa, Aston Martin’s ambassador
Fernando Alonso always outperforms his machine and has a record of never being beaten by a teammate. Owing to this greatness, he has destroyed Aston Martin’s simulator predictions. In furtherance of this, Pedro de la Rosa was asked to bin the team’s simulator predictions because Nando always ends up outperforming the car.
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Answering this he said, “Ninth in Bahrain, ninth in Saudi Arabia, ninth in Australia and ninth here, and it turns out that in Bahrain he got it right, he was ninth, but from then you have to add the ‘Alonso factor’ that spoils everything.”
Pedro said, “The truth is that it’s nice to work with a driver like Fernando because he makes these races for you. If you understand a little bit about racing, you know what a credit it is to have such a guy on your gearbox for three races in a row, we’ve had Jeddah, Australia, and this one, where he’s had Russell or Piastri every lap.”
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Where do you think Fernando will end up in 2025? Let us know in the comments below.