SUZUKA, Japan — Formula One returns to Japan this weekend at the mighty Suzuka circuit, albeit on a date earlier than previous editions of the Japanese Grand Prix. The April running of the event this time round happily coincides with the start of the country’s famous cherry blossom season, in which Japan’s 1 million sakura trees bloom with pink flowers, a phenomenon mirrored in much of the event’s promotional material this year.
But as the paddock reconvened two weeks on from Carlos Sainz‘s victory in Australia, talk of the beautiful surroundings took a back seat to conversations about driving standards. Fernando Alonso‘s 20-second penalty for “potentially dangerous” driving on the penultimate lap, which led to George Russell crashing heavily, divided opinions within the sport.
Although this Paddock Diary wouldn’t usually dwell on one of the more serious stories doing the rounds (more on which can be found here), there was one detail that emerged in the FIA news conference that was too good to ignore.
Catching up over coffee
Monaco is a small place with a disproportionately large population of F1 drivers, so it’s not unusual for members of the grid to bump into each other between races. However, after their incident in Melbourne, the first time Alonso and Russell came across each other was as they were queuing for a cup of coffee in one of the principality’s many cafes.
“We actually saw each other back home,” Russell said. “We just coincidentally bumped into each other in a coffee shop.”
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At this point, Max Verstappen, who was sat next to Russell in the news conference, interjected with a joke that no doubt seemed funny in his head but didn’t quite land.
“Did you brake test him there or not?”
Russell brushed off the levity from his Red Bull rival, but when asked if he discussed the incident with Alonso while grabbing a coffee, he said: “No, we didn’t.
“He didn’t buy my coffee, though. That was probably the least that could have happened, but no, it’s history now.”
The conversation is likely to be reignited in this weekend’s driver briefing, however, which takes place on Friday after second practice. The briefing offers all 20 drivers a chance to raise issues with FIA race director Niels Wittich, and Thursday’s media session demonstrated that opinions on the incident vary…
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