Fernando Alonso addresses Australian GP recovery truck backlash as drivers chime in

Aston Martin Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso has addressed the criticism stemming from a recovery vehicle joining the track in Australia.

One of the more controversial moments of the Australian Grand Prix saw a recovery lorry enter the circuit while cars on-track were still under safety car conditions, resulting in plenty of backlash that weekend. During a press conference ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, , Alonso, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Oliver Bearman were each asked if they felt a red flag would have been more appropriate. 

The two-time champion responded:

“I don’t know. I don’t know the exact details, so difficult to comment, but I think Melbourne is not an easy track to recover cars. So at one point, yeah, they need to go into the track, and I think we have now a different system than what we had in the past that in the yellow flag zone, even behind the safety car, you have to respect even a slower lap time so…

“I think at one point you need to take that car out from the track so if you respect that time, should not be too fast in that zone. I don’t think that it was, you know, nothing crazy. I think it was under control.”

Sauber rookie driver Bortoleto agreed:

“Same, to be honest, I agree, the double yellow area that you need to follow the delta, you go very, very slow there. And if the stewards decided like this, for sure they’re keeping an eye on that after what happened in the past already, so they wouldn’t try to make a mistake like this again.”

Bearman, who has began his rookie season with Haas, explained:

“I agree with everything they said. At the speed we were going, it was OK, but yeah, I understand the sense of the question.”

In contrast, Red Bull team chief Christian Horner had stated that it would likely be looked into. He explained to the media after the race in Melbourne:

“It’s never great seeing recovery [vehicles], recovery cars on the circuit when the cars are circulating or there’s cars still looking to close up, and I suppose they’ll look at that.”