Although he supports F1’s penalty points system that weeds out dangerous driving, Fernando Alonso says that at some point the stewards have begun to confuse “racing errors with dangerous driving”.
Last time out in Austria, Alonso was handed two penalty points and a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Zhou Guanyu at Turn 3 of the Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso: “We took away the incentive to try an overtaking manoeuvre”
Additional information from Thomas Maher
While he agrees he “deserved” the time penalty, the Spaniard believes the penalty points were unfair as it was a mistake, not dangerous driving.
That wasn’t the only penalty situation he was involved in at the Red Bull Ring, as Nico Hulkenberg received the same punishment for their sprint crash.
While attempting to overtake Alonso towards the end of the 23-lap race, Hulkenberg went off on his worn Pirelli tyres and forced Alonso off the track.
The Aston Martin driver says that was also a “mistake” and there was no “danger involved” that would warrant penalty points.
“I think when penalty points were introduced it was to prevent dangerous drivers accumulating penalties without a race ban,” Alonso told media including PlanetF1.com.
“Just to avoid dangerous maneuvers and endangering anyone on the track.
“I think we are now confusing racing mistakes with dangerous driving.
“I made a mistake in Turn 3 and collided with Zhou Guanyu, so I deserve a 10-second penalty. I think maybe Nico made a mistake in the race and you pay the price.”
“If you lose position, you are five or ten seconds down. It is a racing mistake, it will always happen and it has happened in the past.
“What I don’t understand is the danger that these maneuvers entail, because there is no danger at all.
“We are removing the incentive to attempt an overtaking manoeuvre, because if you make a mistake in the race, you will be penalised with penalty points.
“That’s why sometimes it’s better to stay back because they are only promoting overtaking with DRS because you can’t try to pass anyone because that will mean penalty points for one of the two drivers.
“So this is wrong for me.”
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Penalty points were introduced in 2014, a decision taken following Romain Grosjean’s one-race suspension and €50,000 fine for causing the crash at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix.
Alonso, however, believes Formula 1 has gone too far with its numerous rules.
“We are trying to prevent dangerous drivers from receiving fines every two or three weekends and putting people in danger,” he said.
“I think this was when (Romain) Grosjean had the accident at Spa with Lewis and I involved and things like that, and there was a race ban at Monza that year.
“Now I think we’ve definitely never had as many rules as we do now. We can’t overtake in the pit lane, we can’t go fast in the pit lane, we can’t go slow on the track, we basically can’t do anything.
“And yes, this is probably over-regulated and as drivers we sometimes get frustrated, as do the teams.
“But we have to find a solution together. We cannot leave the FIA alone in this, we have to propose something that is better than the current rules. And this is something we have to do together.”
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