Eddie Jordan felt that George Russell could have done more to prevent his crash with Fernando Alonso at the Australian Grand Prix.

The race finished under a virtual safety car after Russell had veered off track after trying to harry Alonso for P6.

Stewards believed the Aston Martin driver had been driving “potentially dangerous” and gave the Spaniard a 20-point penalty.

Speaking on the Formula For Success podcast, Jordan believed Russell could have done more, pointing out that the driver behind in any situation must “use initiative”.

“I saw it immediately, it was semi-suspicious to the eye,” said Jordan of Alonso.

“But remember this, that it is Alonso’s position to defend. And we saw what he did with [Sergio] Perez in Brazil. He let Perez past him so that he could get quicker down the straight. He is a very, very clever driver.

“There’s not many out there on that grid who could actually take on Fernando Alonso in mind games, because I think he is above everybody else.

“So what happened, only he knows. But it did look to me as if the car slowed. If that’s the case, then it’s up to the driver behind to be able to look out for that.

“The driver behind is always the person that has to use the initiative, because he has to balance everything in his mind that gives him the safest option. That was a big accident. That could have been horrific.

“But George will learn from that. I think he – and most of the grid – will be very aware when they come up about fighting with Alonso.”