In Saturday’s sprint race, Alonso was given a 10-second penalty for a flash-over collision with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz near the end of the race, which resulted in Alonso’s retirement due to a puncture.
The following day, Stroll received a similar penalty for crashing into the rear of RB’s Daniel Ricciardo in safety car conditions, which caused terminal damage to the Australian and also damaged Oscar Piastri’s McLaren.
After deeming the stewards’ quick decision for Stroll “very harsh”, Krack added that “the stewards have been tough on Fernando and Lance recently”.
This includes Alonso’s penalty for “potentially dangerous driving” in Australia, where his extremely early braking into a corner surprised George Russell’s Mercedes, which crashed into his dirty air.
“We had it in the sprint race, we had it in Melbourne, we had it with Lance [here]”Krack said.
“Last time it was the car in front that received the penalty. [Alonso] in Melbourne, even without touching. This time it was the car behind.”
Krack cited Stroll’s first-lap contact in Bahrain, in which he was knocked down by Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg, as an example of others who escaped punishment.
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“Lance spun in Bahrain on the first lap and needs to get back into the pack. There is no penalty for whoever caused the collision,” he said.
“So, again, we’re not very consistent. That’s the feeling.
“It’s frustrating. On the other hand, everyone is human. Everyone is trying to do their best.
“The best recipe is if you have a fast car and you go. Max [Verstappen] has no such sanctions. So it’s up to us to make this happen.”
MORE: How Stroll and Magnussen revealed the scale of F1’s racing and rules problems
The Bahrain incident occurred in turn 1, it is considered a typical first round incident towards which the stewards take a more lenient stance.
When asked by Autosport if he felt Alonso and Stroll were subject to harsher treatment because of their respective reputations, Krack replied: “It’s interesting that you ask that question because it shows that You seem to have that kind of feeling too.”
“I think generally there was this discussion about standards of conduct and tougher penalties at the start of the year.
Mike Krack, Team Principal, Aston Martin F1 Team
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“But then you want action in a sprint, don’t you? And we had action! I thought it was a great race, even though we had the worst finish.
“Then spending hours with the stewards again… you feel at that moment that it’s not fair.
“Maybe we sleep two nights, and we will see things differently. But again, you have an incident [in the race] where people push another car into turn 6, and then there’s no action.
“Or the two Ferraris were pushing each other, without leaving a gap – there was no action. Fernando? Just 10 seconds…”
Watch: Who are the key players in F1 Driver Market 2025
In Saturday’s sprint race, Alonso was given a 10-second penalty for a flash-over collision with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz near the end of the race, which resulted in Alonso’s retirement due to a puncture.
The following day, Stroll received a similar penalty for crashing into the rear of RB’s Daniel Ricciardo in safety car conditions, which caused terminal damage to the Australian and also damaged Oscar Piastri’s McLaren.
After deeming the stewards’ quick decision for Stroll “very harsh”, Krack added that “the stewards have been tough on Fernando and Lance recently”.
This includes Alonso’s penalty for “potentially dangerous driving” in Australia, where his extremely early braking into a corner surprised George Russell’s Mercedes, which crashed into his dirty air.
“We had it in the sprint race, we had it in Melbourne, we had it with Lance [here]”Krack said.
“Last time it was the car in front that received the penalty. [Alonso] in Melbourne, even without touching. This time it was the car behind.”
Krack cited Stroll’s first-lap contact in Bahrain, in which he was knocked down by Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg, as an example of others who escaped punishment.
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“Lance spun in Bahrain on the first lap and needs to get back into the pack. There is no penalty for whoever caused the collision,” he said.
“So, again, we’re not very consistent. That’s the feeling.
“It’s frustrating. On the other hand, everyone is human. Everyone is trying to do their best.
“The best recipe is if you have a fast car and you go. Max [Verstappen] has no such sanctions. So it’s up to us to make this happen.”
MORE: How Stroll and Magnussen revealed the scale of F1’s racing and rules problems
The Bahrain incident occurred in turn 1, it is considered a typical first round incident towards which the stewards take a more lenient stance.
When asked by Autosport if he felt Alonso and Stroll were subject to harsher treatment because of their respective reputations, Krack replied: “It’s interesting that you ask that question because it shows that You seem to have that kind of feeling too.”
“I think generally there was this discussion about standards of conduct and tougher penalties at the start of the year.
Mike Krack, Team Principal, Aston Martin F1 Team
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
“But then you want action in a sprint, don’t you? And we had action! I thought it was a great race, even though we had the worst finish.
“Then spending hours with the stewards again… you feel at that moment that it’s not fair.
“Maybe we sleep two nights, and we will see things differently. But again, you have an incident [in the race] where people push another car into turn 6, and then there’s no action.
“Or the two Ferraris were pushing each other, without leaving a gap – there was no action. Fernando? Just 10 seconds…”
Watch: Who are the key players in F1 Driver Market 2025
