Martin Brundle unimpressed with F1 driver who was ‘all over the road’ in Abu Dhabi

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Martin Brundle has admitted he wasn’t too impressed with how Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso defended from Lewis Hamilton during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Brundle was part of the team working for Sky Sports F1 at the final race weekend of the season.

They witnessed Max Verstappen complete what is arguably the most dominant campaign in Formula 1 history.

In the space of 12 months, he won more races than the vast majority of drivers achieve in their entire careers.

Further down the grid, drivers who had once experienced that level of control over the rest of the field were battling for minor points.

Lewis Hamilton hasn’t had the season he envisioned with Mercedes this year despite finishing third in the Drivers’ Championship.

Such is Red Bull’s dominance this year that he’s managed to achieve that without winning a single race.

Hamilton was doing battle with two-time champion Fernando Alonso who was trying to help Aston Martin overtake McLaren in Abu Dhabi.

The two papaya-coloured cars were off in the distance at that point, but Alonso was still getting his elbows out fighting his long-time rival.

Alonso appears to brake test Hamilton in Abu Dhabi

The experienced Spaniard overtook Hamilton as he was coming out of the pits and Brundle said: “Alonso is very wide there.

Coming over the radio, Hamilton said: “He just brake-tested me. I got brake-tested like right before the braking zone.”

Brundle agreed something was up and said: “Yep, Alonso all over the road.”

Alonso wasn’t penalised for his move on Hamilton in Abu Dhabi but it was odd to see him brake so early for the corner.

Anthony Davidson believes that Alonso wanted to let his rival pass him before the DRS detection point so that he could gain the advantage going up the main straight.

Hamilton wasn’t close enough to overtake though and instead nearly went into the back of his rival before the corner.

It wasn’t Alonso’s finest move but he did still finish the race in front of his old McLaren teammate, earning enough points to finish fourth in the Drivers’ Championship.

He ended up 28 points behind Hamilton but both drivers will be hoping their battling to race wins in 2024, rather than the final few points-paying positions.