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Fernando Alonso received a 10-second penalty after the race in Jeddah for an incorrectly served penalty during the race and lost his podium finish.
Alonso has to give up his 100th podium place – George Russell benefits from the situation. Russell is now in 3rd place – his first podium this year.
After the start, Fernando Alonso, who started the race from position two, received the 5-second penalty. He received this due to an incorrect starting position in the pits. The document states:
“The Stewards reviewed video evidence, showing that at the time of the start signal, the contact patch of the car’s left front tyre was outside of the starting box. Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the Stewards, in accordance with Article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and Chapter 4 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules, within the applicable time limits.”
Alonso served this penalty during his pitstop under the safety car. The safety car was deployed because Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll had to park the AMR23 at the side of the track due to a defect.
The mistake in Alonso’s pitstop
Article 48.1 c) of the Sporting Regulations states there must be a standstill in the pits for the first five seconds the car enters. However, this was not complied with. The jack was on the car too early, so the five seconds were not served correctly.
The race continued without further comment until George Russell was informed that he was just under five seconds behind Alonso, who might receive an additional penalty. Russell finished behind Alonso, and no further penalty was initially imposed on the Spaniard. However, a few minutes after the podium ceremony, news broke that Alonso would receive a 10-second post-race penalty. Russell was promoted to third place, with Hamilton retaining fifth. The result: Alonso had to hand over his 100th podium place again.
George Russell is, of course, happy about his podium finish, but also criticises the decision in his post-race interview:
“The penalty on Fernando is pretty harsh. They are deserving podium finishers today.”
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Mike Krack, Aston Martin’s team principal, explained to Sky Germany:
“We have reviewed the video and don’t understand it – we did not work on the car before the 5 seconds. We need to understand the penalty and what we can do about it. Or we have to accept it. How Mercedes already knew the chance of a penalty is not entirely clear to us.”
Alonso stated, according to Albert Fabrega:
“If they told me I had a 10-second penalty, I would have pushed more. It was a race of management. Amidst everything, I leave with a good feeling. A shame not to take the podium.”
Toto Wolff, Mercedes team boss, also said that the rule regarding the jack on the car needed to be looked at more closely. Even if it helped his team today, it remains to be seen whether there will be changes to the rules.
Feature Image: Dan Istitene – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images