Fernando Alonso’s podium at the Saudi Arabian GP was temporarily cancelled after the driver failed to line up correctly within his grid box. Alonso was 1 inch far to the left, which resulted in the driver getting a 5-second time penalty.
This was the second incident of this season. Earlier in the 2023 season opener in Bahrain, the Spaniard’s former teammate Esteban Ocon was penalized for a similar violation.
The drivers have complained that it is difficult to spot the margins of the grid box from their cockpits. And finally, the FIA consulted the drivers and made a favorable decision.
BREAKING: Fernando Alonso’s third place in Jeddah is reinstated!#SaudiArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/afmhn9rh3B
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 19, 2023
FIA to increase the width of Grid box at Australian GP
The FIA considered Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso’s woes concerning the grid box’s visibility. The authoritative body has decided to make sweeping changes ahead of the upcoming Australian GP.
The FIA has confirmed that grid boxes will now be 20cm wider at Albert Park. Further, there will also be a center line to direct the driver in aligning it to the car’s nose.
⚠️ | F1 has made the starting grid boxes 20cm wider for this weekend.
This should help prevent a repeat of the issues Ocon and Alonso had in the first two rounds.
[📸@andihaupt1] pic.twitter.com/8alHMFnkTI
— formularacers (@formularacers_) March 29, 2023
Ocon claimed the penalty against him, and Alonso was stupid as it is extremely difficult to spot these lines in modern F1 cars. The Frenchman warned penalties would continue for the rest of the season if the FIA did not step in.
He said in Saudi, “It’s not as easy as it looks to park the car in the right place, with these big cars and how low we are sitting in it. It’s very, very hard, and all the margins are nothing basically.”
Mercedes’s George Russell also agreed with the Alpine driver. The Briton claimed the Yellow line used to navigate drivers to their respective positions is barely visible.
Why was Fernando Alonso’s Saudi GP podium initially removed?
Fernando Alonso claimed 3rd in the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP behind the Red Bull drivers Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen. But the Spaniard was penalized post-race
Alonso was initially given a 5-second time penalty for an incorrect starting position. The driver served the penalty when he pitted on lap 18. But according to the stewards, the rear jack had made contact with the Aston Martin car, which was an infringement.
Perhaps create a marked box 1 metre outside the car’s marks in the pitlane. Team must stay outside this box. When car comes to a stop an FIA representative hits a start button. Time runs out, a light on gantry goes green, team can move inside 1m box.
Can’t be too hard.
— Will Buxton (@wbuxtonofficial) March 19, 2023
While serving a time penalty, no pit crew member is allowed to contact the car. Thus Alonso received an additional 10-second penalty dropping him to P4. However, the delayed decision was only conveyed post-race.
Aston Martin appealed the decision that the rear jack’s contact did not amount to work being done. The team also shared seven other instances where teams were not penalized for similar violations. Following the decision with the race stewards, Alonso’s podium was reinstated.
