'Right in his gearbox': F1 great accused of dirty act as 'bizarre' move ...

In a dramatic repeat of last year’s Singapore Grand Prix, Mercedes’ George Russell crashed out of the 2024 Australian Grand Prix in the final moments.

But there could be an ugly postscript to the crash with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso summoned to the stewards for alleged brake-testing of Russell.

Carlos Sainz came home to win at Albert Park, becoming the first non-Red Bull driver to win a race since his Ferrari came home to win the night race in south-east Asia.

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And just like that race, when he crashed out trying to make a move on the final lap, Russell saw himself failing to finish after a bad collision with the wall on his second-last trip around the lake.

The Briton lost control chasing Alonso heading into the turn 6 and 7 complex and went off into the gravel trap.

Losing downforce he got on the brakes, oversteered and went wide, catching the wall and ending up with the car on its side.

Russell was OK and escaped the Mercedes safely but missed out on a points finish.

He would’ve come home seventh but after Lewis Hamilton’s mechanical retirement early in the race it gave the team a double DNF.

“Double disappointment for Mercedes today,” commentator David Croft said.

Asked post-race if he felt Alonso was guilty, Russell said Alonso came towards him “extremely quick” leaving him “right in his gearbox”.

“We’re off to the stewards, so that’s a bit bizarre in a circumstance like this,” Russell said.

“It’s clear that he braked, you know, 100 metres before the corner and then went back on the throttle again and took the corner. We’ve already seen the data of that.

“I’m not going to accuse him of anything until we see further. I was right behind him for many, many laps. I was half a second behind him before the corner.

“Then, suddenly he slowed up dramatically and got back on the power. I wasn’t expecting it and he caught me by surprise.

“That part is on me. It’s interesting he’s been called by the stewards. I’m intrigued as to what they have to say.”

Alonso argued he was looking at the corner ahead rather than Russell.

“I was focusing in front of me and not behind. I had some some issues for the last 15 laps or something on the battery deployment,” the Spaniard said.

“So, yeah, definitely I was struggling a little bit at the end of the race, but you cannot focus on the cars behind.”