Fernando Alonso went through a rollercoaster of emotions at the second outing of the 2023 season. Alonso started P2 in the Saudi Arabian GP and went off to a flying start by taking the lead heading into turn one. Unfortunately, he started the race from an incorrect grid position and was handed a five-second penalty for the same.
Alonso managed his race perfectly and even served his penalty although it brought him down to P3. After 50 laps of action around the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Alonso and his fans were elated because he just earned his 100th career podium. However, while the Spaniard was on the podium celebrating, the FIA officials decided to hand out a 10-second penalty to Alonso.
Alonso’s post-race penalty was given because he served his initial penalty incorrectly, and this angered fans all over. Mercedes’ George Russell, who was promoted to P3 at the Aston Martin driver’s cost, himself was confused about the situation. Hours after the initial decision, the FIA decided to reinstate Alonso’s P3 finish, but what made them do so?
Fernando Alonso able to celebrate 100th career podium
The main reason why fans were angered about Alonso’s podium being taken away was because the FIA had 30 laps during the race to hand the penalty out. Instead, the waited until the podium celebrations to officially make an announcement.
According to the Article 16.3 of the FIA’s rulebook, once a decision regarding a penalty has been made, race control has 25 minutes to notify the concerned driver. In Alonso’s case, it took them 30 laps and also 10 extra minutes post-race to notify him.
Hence, all the Aston Martin and Alonso fans who were disappointed at the podium being snatched away could smile again, when the Oviedo-born driver got his third place trophy back.
Red Bull domination continues in Jeddah
When Max Verstappen’s reliability misfortune affected his qualifying on Saturday, fans were hopeful of some other team stepping up to the occasion and capitalizing on it. Alonso did take the lead of the race in the initial stages, but it was short lived as Sergio Perez’s RB19 was too strong for him.
Soon, a safety car came out and Verstappen was able to find himself in P2 despite starting from P15. The Dutchman did admit that he would’ve reached the front even without the safety car, but it made things easier for him.
Perez and Verstappen found themselves in P1 and P2 respectively, and no team was able to close the gap. Red Bull earned their second 1-2 finish of the season, and have already created some distance between themselves and their rivals in the championship standings.
