Fernando Alonso responds to FIA penalty after George Russell incident during Australian Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso has hit back at the FIA after being left 'surprised' at his 20-second post-race penalty at the Australian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard was penalised for his part in a crash involving George Russell at Turn 6 on the final lap in Melbourne.

Russell was briefly left stranded in the middle of the track with Alonso adjudged to have acted dangerously due to his braking.

The duo could be seen battling it out for 5th place and as the race looked to be ending, the Brit collided with the Aston Martin driving and veered off the track.

Russell could be heard begging for a red flag shortly after before the FIA acted to hand Alonso with a punishment that also included three points on his super license.

Speaking out following the entertaining race Down Under, the 42-year-old took to social media in the aftermath to share his displeasure.

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso says the trophy could have been "split in two" this season (Image credit: PA)

“Double points for the team and a better race pace than the rest of the weekend allowed us to cross the finish line in 6th and 7th place," Alonso began earlier today via X.

“A bit surprised by a penalty at the end of the race regarding how we should approach the corners or how we should drive the race cars.

"At no point do we want to do anything wrong at these speeds. I believe that without gravel on that corner, on any other corner in the world we will never be even investigated.

Fernando also stated how he believed the incident was merely down to a regular part-and-parcel nature of high-speed racing.

“In F1, with over 20 years of experience, with epic duels like Imola 2005/2006/ Brazil 2023, changing racing lines, sacrificing entry speed to have good exits from corners is part of the art of motorsport.

"We never drive at 100% every race lap and every corner, we save fuel, tires, brakes, so being responsible for not making every lap the same is a bit surprising.

"We have to accept it and think about Japan, to have more pace and fight for positions further up the field. Thank you, team! “