Fernando Alonso has not forgotten his punishment from Australia, as it became clear after the Japanese Grand Prix. The experienced Spanish driver crossed the finish line sixth in both races, but was summoned in Melbourne. Alonso briefly referred to this when he was congratulated in Suzuka for a strong result and smart tactics.
Alonso had been enjoying Japan all weekend, and qualified strongly in fifth. A day later he kept several colleagues with Mercedes engines behind. McLaren driver Oscar Piastri was unable to pass Alonso, and when George Russell came rushing in with fresher rubber, Alonso ensured Piastri continued to get DRS to defend against Russell.
After the race, Alonso told his story in front of the microphone of the Spanish-language DAZN: ‘I don’t know what to say anymore after Australia. Let’s see first if I get dropped from the entire world championship,” a sarcastic Alonso wonders whether his strategy during the race can count on the approval of the race management. ‘Obviously with Piastri behind me I had a way to defend against George Russell, so I could keep charging the battery on the straight at 130R and get Piastri within a second.’
Alonso did not think his plan was that groundbreaking. ‘Carlos did that in Singapore too, so this is quite normal in racing.’ Although Piastri received a helping hand from Alonso, the young Australian still lost seventh place to Russell in the final lap after a mistake. However, the Mercedes driver could no longer put pressure on Alonso after that. Alonso single-handedly scored as many points as both Mercedes drivers, leaving the gap one point.
Sneak at Mercedes
At the British Sky Sports F1, Alonso called the weekend in Japan one of his strongest weekends ever. He was immediately asked about his plans for 2025. The 42-year-old was linked with Mercedes, but that transfer seems to have come to an end. In any case, Alonso himself indicated that he was not interested. ‘I had one of my best weekends ever, but I finished 44 seconds behind the leader. That doesn’t feel that interesting,” Alonso may be hinting at a possible retirement. “Mercedes finished behind me, so that doesn’t feel interesting either.”
