Alonso was unhappy with the FIA's decision, stating that the stewards had a lot of time to inform his team of the decision instead of waiting till the end of the race.
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It was a day of drama for Fernando Alonso, who probably thought he had earned his 100th career podium when he finished P3 on Sunday at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. However, his jubilation was soon turned to disappointment as the stewards placed a 10-second time penalty on the Spaniard after the end of the race. Alonso was unhappy with the FIA’s decision, stating that the stewards had a lot of time to inform his team of the decision instead of waiting till the end of the race. The Spaniard was, however, defiant, saying that he would have opened up a gap of 11 seconds on the car behind had he known of the penalty. As a result, George Russell and Mercedes celebrated their first podium of 2023 as Alonso finished P4.
“It doesn’t hurt too much to be honest,” Alonso said as per Sky Sports. “I was on the podium, I did pictures, I took the trophy, I celebrated and now I have apparently three points less. I don’t have 15, I have 12. You cannot apply a penalty 35 laps after the pit stop. hey had enough time to inform about the penalty. If I knew that, maybe then I open up 11 seconds to the car behind.”
“Today, we didn’t put on a good show for our fans,” the Spaniard added. “I know the team is trying to review it with the stewards now because we didn’t understand fully the second penalty. I care, but I don’t care that much as I have celebrated and now I have three points less? OK, let’s try and recover in Australia.”
So why was Alonso hit with a massive 10-second penalty? Well, the situation was quite similar to what Esteban Ocon suffered in Bahrain at the season-opening race. The Spaniard was first slapped with a five-second time penalty for incorrect starting position on the grid. He then came into the pits under the safety car to change his tyres and serve the penalty. However, the Aston Martin mechanic with the rear jack made contact with Alonso’s car before the time had elapsed.
Read More – The thinnest of margins: Esteban Ocon’s three five-second penalties in Bahrain explained
This forced the stewards to slap a 10-second penalty on the Spaniard, who would be informed of the decision after he was done celebrating a supposed P3 on the podium alongside race winner Sergio Perez and second placed Max Verstappen. Russell was eventually awarded P3 but the Brit said the decision was a harsh one. “I think it was very harsh what happened to Fernando in all honesty,” said Russell. “I feel like some of these penalties have been a little bit too extreme what we have seen this weekend. Nevertheless, I am happy to pick up the silverware.”
Sergio Perez has emerged as the biggest threat to his teammate Max Verstappen’s title defence after he won the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP on Sunday. Perez finished P1, followed by his teammate to make it a second successive 1-2 finish for Red Bull, firmly strengthening their grasp on the constructor’s championship title after just two races. Things however might get a bit feisty between Perez and Verstappen, who are separted by just a single point in the drivers’ championship.
“No, I did enjoy the race to be honest. I enjoyed it a lot, especially at the end, just pushing each other with the lap times knowing that he went a tenth faster, tenth slower, tenth slower, and it was all pretty intense. Then we were told to maintain a certain pace, then I was told again to push then to maintain the pace – so it was just a bit all over the place,” said the race winner.
