At the Saudi Arabian GP, Fernando Alonso crossed the line third and delivered yet another impressive performance with his new Aston Martin F1 team. But after the race, he was given a 10-second penalty that dropped him in the final classification.
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This elevated Mercedes’ George Russell to P3 and Alonso’s trophy then went to the Mercedes’ garage. While receiving the trophy, Russell said that Alonso’s penalty was very harsh and a bit too extreme.
Later that night, the stewards decided that the trophy should be returned to Alonso after they relooked into the matter. But Russell revealed that he ran into Alonso at the airport and before anyone else the Spaniard told him that he will be back in P3 after the messy penalty. Speaking during the Australian GP press conference, Russell said, “We met at the airport. Fernando had some insider information.”
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The Mercedes driver also said that he did not feel like he deserved the podium, but he did and then it was snatched away from him. “It was all a bit silly,” he said.
Why was Fernando Alonso penalized?
At the lights out, Alonso was noticed starting the race from an incorrect position. He could not perfectly place his car in the grid box and therefore was handed a 5-second penalty.
The Spaniard served the 5-second penalty during a pit stop as the team followed the guidelines required which stated that the car has to remain stationary for 5 seconds with no pit crew working on it. But on the final lap, the stewards once again checked the evidence and found that the rear jack had touched the car before 5 seconds.
Following this, Alonso was awarded another 10-second penalty which dropped him to 4th. But this came long after the Aston Martin driver proudly held his 100th podium on the stage.
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Fans, journalists, and presenters present at the paddock were all left shocked and confused after Alonso’s 100th podium was snatched away from him. The chaos led the stewards to relook into their decisions and over the course of the night, it was decided that Russell would have to return the trophy to Alonso.
What made FIA overturn its initial ruling?
Dissatisfied with the initial ruling, Aston Martin presented evidence to the FIA arguing that “touching’ the car did not constitute “working” on the car. After a lot of discussions, the stewards realized that there was a lack of clarity in the rules, and therefore, the decision was overturned.
Furthermore, the FIA also admitted that the incidents of the Jeddah penalty have exposed a vagueness in the rules that needs to be addressed. Following the incident, the FIA increased the width of the grid box by 20 cm to refrain from any other incorrect starts.
Moreover, the overturning of the initial ruling also opened the wounds of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP. If anything, the events of the Jeddah penalty convinced the fans that the initial ruling can be reassessed and changed if found correct.
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