Tricky weather conditions at the Australian Grand Prix saw many of the F1 2025 rookies struggling to stay on track — but it’s safe to say no one expected a veteran like Fernando Alonso to join the fray.

According to the Aston Martin driver, though, his crash was the result of what he deems the “dangerous” reconfiguration of Turn 6 at Albert Park.

Fernando Alonso: “We should never have a corner that the gravel goes into the track”

Melbourne’s Turn 6 at the Albert Park Circuit has been subject to plenty of tweaks over the last few years.

Three years ago, that specific turn was saw a widening of 7.5 meters to the driver’s right-hand side in order to raise speeds and encourage overtaking on the ensuing straight.

However, George Russell’s shocking 2024 crash at that section of the track prompted a rethink.

In the closing stages of the race, Russell attempted to pass the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso; in the process, he ran slightly wide, then collided heavily with the wall. His Mercedes flipped back into the road on its side.

Earlier in the same 2024 weekend, Alex Albon crashed into the T6 wall and did such significant damage to his chassis that Williams was left with just one functioning car for the weekend.

Drivers called for a rethinking of the corner layout for the 2025 season opener, but according to Alonso, that alteration may have resulted in even more danger.

The fix included alterations to the track and runoff on the drivers’ lefthand side, including a kerb that was designed to slow drivers down, plus an additional half-meter of concrete before the gravel trap.

However, throughout the weekend, it appeared that the gravel began to creep ever closer to that kerb, so that any miscalculation by the driver meant they’d drop tires into the rock.

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Alonso became the fourth driver to retire from the 2025 Australian Grand Prix when he lost control in Turn 6 and crashed at Turn 7. The incident brought out a safety car that enabled most drivers to swap from intermediate to slick tires — but it was a perplexing one for the driver.

When asked after the race what happened to cause the incident, Alonso told media, “I need to review the incident, but difficult to understand at the moment.

“You know, I think I was not off track while putting the car on a different racing line than any other lap before. So I found a lot of gravel just there in that moment where I put the rear tire and I lost the car.

“So that Turn 6 design probably is not the best, you know, bringing gravel to the track and not away from the track.”

Though Alonso noted that every driver was up against the same issues with the gravel at that turn, he also pointed out that a significant number of the weekend’s incidents pertained to that part of the track.

“I think we had a lot of damaged cars,” he said, referring to T6.

“I think [Kimi] Antonelli in qualifying destroyed the floor there.

“We should never have a corner that the gravel goes into the track, because that’s a danger for the drivers, marshals, everyone.

“So that’s number one priority. I think Turn 6 will have to do a little bit of a tweak.”

There are likely plenty of drivers, including Antonelli and Oliver Bearman, who agree.

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