Fernando Alonso was very unhappy with the fact that he was penalized at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix after testing the brakes of George Russell in the final laps of the race. Aston Martin’s Spaniard was penalized with a 20-second time penalty and 3 penalty points due to the accident involving the Mercedes driver.
Among the stewards working on the weekend in Melbourne was Johnny Herbert, whose relationship with Alonso is, to put it mildly, strained. For the two-time world champion’s most depraved fans, this was an excellent breeding ground to with death threats find the three-time grand prize winner.
“The response to the Melbourne race was terrible. Death threats poured in on me on social media. I’m lucky to be able to handle them, but I think it’s pathetic that they singled me out,” said the ex-contestant, who worked as a TV expert in recent years.
According to Herbert, it was his last activity that started everything. His relationship with Alonso is really not cloudless, as they managed to catch up on live broadcasts at the time. Alonso was still a weak McLaren driver when Herbert, as an expert, once suggested that the Spaniard should leave. The competitor also learned about this and read it to Herbert live at the first opportunity. “You became a commentator because you didn’t become world champion,” Alonso said during the 2016 Bahrain weekend.
“The fans used that as a weapon against me after Australia,” Herbert said. “There were messages with knife emojis saying they know where I live and they’re coming for me. Most of them were Spanish. Most of them came in the last two weeks, but I’m still getting them. It’s part of the social media world where everyone has an opinion but can’t back it up with facts.”
“I can only laugh at him. We are lucky that it does not affect us, but it hurts many people. If this happens, action should be taken against it. However, I do not hear that anything will happen,” added the Briton.
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