Fernando Alonso rejects growing F1 concern: 'Nothing has changed'

Fernando Alonso has rejected the idea that F1's racing guidelines have changed that much, insisting he races as he has always done.

Alonso, F1's most experienced driver ever with 411 grand prix starts, believes that drivers always try to "exploit" the racing guidelines to their own ends, with the guidelines under fresh scrutiny after the FIA released its penalty guidelines for on-track incidents.

Max Verstappen believes the guidelines are making racing "unnatural", with Alonso firm that nothing has changed in his approach on-track and insists that drivers "follow instincts" when it comes to wheel-to-wheel racing as opposed to trying to meet the book.

Alonso is into his 22nd F1 season, and believes one reason drivers can fall foul of the guidelines is due to not knowing the full race picture as it unfolds.

"I don't think it has changed that much," Alonso observed to media, including RacingNews365, of the guidelines.

"For me, I am still driving more or less the same way I have always driven, yes, it is regulated, and sometimes different from season to season, but there are always some tweaks and adjustments.

"But we know the rules more or less when we start the season, and you try to exploit them when you have the possibility, but I don't think much has changed in the last two decades.

"You end up driving naturally in the car, and follow your instincts when you make an overtake, and when you are defending or something is happening, you then have a rule book from someone outside the car who can judge and make a decision, but I don't know how other drivers do it.

"As I said, when I'm in the car defending, I am defending the same way I did all my career, and when I'm attacking, I do it in the same way, and I am not thinking about this page [in the guidelines] says this about Turn 4 and then I will go for that. 

"I try to overtake and not have any contact because my car can then be damaged and score no points, and when I defend, I try to defend hard, but at the same time, you cannot lose time because they might be on a different strategy or it is not your race.

"Some of the things that are happening are just because you don't have a full picture of the race situation, and you are just focused on that specific battle, and sometimes, it is better to lose a battle, but win the war."