Quote:
Originally Posted by M5Rick
I think stewards have been too hard on ALO, RUS was pushing so hard too late as to not give him any leeway and he was walking a tightrope without any safety net.
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It's F1. Tailgating and knife-edge driving (attack and defense) is perfectly normal. No sub 1s tailgating = no DRS.
It looked like Russell was capable of overtaking Alonso in the final stages of the race. He was breathing in Alonso's neck at a mere ± 0.5s distance, offering DRS opportunities in some sections of the track. Final laps, into dirty air behind Alonso, tires grained, Hamilton DNF, so Russell had to make his move to get those 8 WDC and WCC points. Alonso was not gonna yield: he unexpectedly coasted in Turns 6-7 where he used to go flat-out. With the force dynamics at play due to Russell hanging under Alonso's wing, that was asking for trouble: either Russell would rear-end Alonso or would be sent off track and crash. Alonso caught Russell by surprise with a questionable defense tactic, judged by the stewards as "potentially dangerous driving".