Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has made an interesting comparison between Fernando Alonso’s situation at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix this past weekend to that of Lewis Hamilton at the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP. In both instances, the FIA made controversial decisions.
At the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP, the FIA had initially imposed a 10-second time penalty on Aston Martin’s Alonso for not serving his previous penalty correctly. As a result of this decision, the Spaniard was demoted to fourth, with Mercedes’ George Russell to third.
However, after Aston Martin urged the FIA to review their decision, the penalty was revoked, and Alonso was reinstated in third. Even though the decision went against Mercedes, Wolff did not have many concerns about it.
Instead, he revealed that he was happy to know that a team was not being ‘robbed’ as Mercedes were back in 2021. In this instance, a highly controversial decision from race control meant that Hamilton failed to win a potential eighth-record title.
‘Rather have the FIA make correct decisions than…’: Toto Wolff
In a recent interview, Toto Wolff compared the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP to that of the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP to explain why he had no problems with the FIA reversing their decision. The Mercedes team principal stated that as long as the FIA was making the correct decision, it did not matter how long it took for them to reach their conclusion.
He began explaining his point by evaluating the penalty imposed on Alonso. Wolff referred to the penalty as ‘super harsh,’ stating that the Spaniard deserved to be on the podium.
The 51-year-old then explained how his side had previously been a victim of FIA’s poor decision-making. “We’ve been victims of that in 2021. Everything was down to the entertainment for a quick decision. And it robbed the greatest driver of the championship,” explained Wolff in an interview (as quoted by motorsportweek.com).
Wolff refers to the potential eighth championship that Lewis Hamilton lost because of one decision. The Briton was cruising to victory at the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP when race director Michael Masi made a highly contentious call that allowed Max Verstappen to pass Hamilton on the race’s final lap.
Fernando Alonso gives his take on the penalty fiasco
Similarly to Toto Wolff, Fernando Alonso was also critical of FIA’s penalty decision. While speaking to Sky Sports F1, the Spaniard referred to it as a ‘poor show’ from the FIA.
Alonso did not understand why the FIA penalized him “35 laps after the pit stop”. He believes that the FIA had enough time to decide and inform the team about the same.
Since this fiasco took place, the FIA has revealed that they would review the incident ahead of the Australian GP.
