Guenther Steiner believes Fernando Alonso was driving an unsafe car after losing a side mirror following a high-speed crash with Lance Stroll.
Fernando Alonso found himself in a controversy following the 2022 US GP. The Spaniard lost his hard-earned points following a protest by Haas for a missing side mirror.
Haas objected on the basis that Alonso competed with a damaged car While Haas was forced to pit Kevin Magnussen in order to repair the damage that called for a black and orange flag.
Team Principal Guenther Steiner pushed firmly for the protest which resulted in Alonso getting a 30-second post-race penalty. But Steiner says they weren’t targeting Alonso or Alpine. Rather, the FIA must be uniform with its ruling.
Guenther Steiner on Fernando Alonso’s penalty
The validity of Sergio Perez’s car was also protested by Haas along with Fernando Alonso’s car. Steiner said loose parts like Perez’s front wing or Alonso’s mirror posed a safety risk to drivers.
He adds, “If there is a mirror missing and the rule says you need to have two mirrors, why can you say, ‘we had an incident; there’s only one?’ You still need to have two.”
Debris from Alonso’s car following his crash was seen raining down on the Haas of Mick Schumacher. In the end, it was just Alonso that received a penalty. But Steiner doesn’t have much to sympathise with the 2-time World Champion.
Steiner adds, “I mean, there was one mirror. How we lost it, I don’t really care. We saw it flapping, and then they should get a black and orange, and then it flew off. And then he should be disqualified because he has no safety equipment.”
Why Fernando Alonso received a 30-second post-race time penalty?
Fernando Alonso suffered a horrific collision on lap 21. The Spaniard was trailing the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll and was closing in on an overtake. But Stroll swerved in at the last moment and the two drivers came in contact.
Alonso’s car was launched up and sent straight to the barriers. However, the Spaniard managed to keep the car running and even managed to secure points after finishing P7. But his A522 had some damage which included a missing right side-view mirror.
This made Haas question the safety of the car. And Haas lodged a complaint against both Alonso’s car and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez who suffered front wing damage during the initial laps of the race.
Perez’s car was deemed to be safe. But Alonso received a 30-second post-race penalty after the car was considered unsafe. This dropped him out of points from P7 to P15.
The side mirrors are part of the safety requirement. Thus violating Article 3.2 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations that “a car must be in a safe condition throughout a race.”
Alpine has challenged the permissibility of Haas’s protest. According to the protest was lodged 24 minutes past the deadline and hence invalid.
The case shall be settled on Thursday ahead of the 2022 Mexico City GP via video conference. If Alpine are to challenge the verdict, there will be a separate hearing that will take place at a later date.
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