WATCH: Russell and Alonso have a close call in unusual incident during FP3 in Zandvoort

George Russell and Fernando Alonso had a very close call that saw them narrowly avoid contact in an unusual incident during third and final practice at the Dutch Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver was in front of Alonso heading out of the final corner but, as they approached the pit entry, the two-time World Champion had to take evading action when Russell suddenly moved over as if about to pit, only to then continue on for another lap.

Alonso, left with nowhere to go, dived into the pits himself, leaving the Aston Martin man to remark: “They don’t look at their mirrors.”

The incident was investigated after the session, with Mercedes handed a €7,500 fine and Russell a warning.

The stewards wrote: “Car 14 [Alonso] was on a push lap and was exiting Turn 14 when Car 63 [Russell] was on a slow lap and had been instructed to enter the pits. Car 14 went on the inside of Car 63 in an attempt to complete the lap but Car 63, taking a wide line before entering the pits, nearly collided with Car 14 at pit entry. Car 63 took evasive action and aborted the pit entry and continued on the track.

“Car 14 had to abort the lap and enter the pit lane to avoid a collision.

“It was clear to us that Car 63 had not been warned of the fact that Car 14 was approaching and that it was on a push lap. The team admitted this at the hearing and acknowledged that they ought to have warned the driver of Car 63 but did not do so. Their failure created a dangerous situation where both cars had to take evasive action to avoid a collision.

“We accept that the driver of Car 63 had no way of knowing that Car 14 was approaching, particularly given the nature of the circuit and the fact that Turn 14 is a blind corner. Merely looking at the mirrors would not have prevented what occurred. We accordingly imposed a fine of €7,500 on the team for failing to warn their driver appropriately.

“Nevertheless, given the nature of the circuit and the slow speed at which he was travelling, it would have been prudent for Car 63 to have kept more to the right of the track to leave space for faster cars coming around that corner. We also administer a warning to the driver for this.”

Hit go on the video player above to watch the moment unfold.