Ex-Formula 1 driver turned pundit Martin Brundle believes Fernando Alonso’s antics against Lewis Hamilton during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix were “sketchy”, following claims he brake tested his former McLaren partner.
Hamilton accused Alonso of brake testing him mid-race, after the Spaniard exited the pits directly ahead of Hamilton following his second and final pit-stop.
The seven-time World Champion was right on Alonso’s gearbox as they approached Turn 5, where the DRS detection line is situated just before.
In an attempt to deny Hamilton DRS and gain it himself, Alonso suddenly pulled to the right of the racing line and suddenly braked, prior to the braking zone for the corner.
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Hamilton was forced to brake as a result, leading to complaints that he was brake tested.
“He just brake tested me. I got brake tested. Like way before the braking zone,” Hamilton said over the radio to race engineer Peter Bonnington.
Hamilton continued to stress to the media after the race that Alonso’s antics were not on.
“We were flat out, 400 metres, 300 metres before the corner,” Hamilton said. “I was doing 180 miles an hour and the guy all of a sudden slowed down massively.”
Alonso’s antics were investigated by the stewards, who looked into whether it was ‘erratic driving’ or not by the Aston Martin driver.
No penalty was ultimately awarded, with Alonso having brushed off the incident after the race.
Alonso went onto finish the race in seventh which secured him fourth in the Drivers’ Championship, whilst Hamilton had to settle for P9.
Had he been slapped with a five-second time penalty, then he would’ve been demoted to ninth, which would’ve secured Charles Leclerc fourth in the standings.
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Brundle reviewed Alonso’s incident with Hamilton and acknowledged that the 42-year-old did “heavily brake”, in what was a “sketchy” moment.
“There was a strange incident when Fernando Alonso emerged from the pits and appeared to heavily brake test Lewis, which caught him off guard,” he said in his Sky Sports column.
“Fernando was hoping to let Lewis through the DRS detection point first ready for the long straights, but it all looked rather sketchy, to say the least.”