Fernando Alonso handed 20-second penalty and demoted to eighth place for ‘potentially DANGEROUS driving’ after ‘unusual manoeuvre’ which led to George Russell crashing out of the Australian Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso has been demoted to eighth place at the Australian Grand Prix after he was handed a 20-second time penalty for his role in George Russell crashing out of the race.

Russell was chasing Alonso for sixth on Lap 57 of 58, when he got too close behind the Aston Martin driver and crashed out of the race.

Though Alonso made no contact with the British Mercedes star, the stewards decided to investigate the incident and speak to both men after the race.

It was deemed that Alonso made an ‘unusual manoeuvre’ and drove in a manner that was ‘potentially dangerous’.

This was due to the 42-year-old lifting more than 100m earlier at Turn 6 than he had in the prior 56 laps, which ultimately caught out Russell. 

Russell’s car hit the barrier and got lifted up on its side over the broken wheel of the Mercedes

Stewards have given Fernando Alonso a 20-second time penalty after they said he lifted more than 100 metres earlier going into Turn 6 – which ultimately caught out the British driver