Alpine seeks FIA talks over “wholly unjust” Alonso F1 penalty

Alonso lost his ninth-place finish in Miami last weekend after the race stewards handed down a five-second penalty for him gaining a lasting advantage after he accidentally cut the chicane near the end of the race.

Running ahead of a train of cars that included Mick Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel, Alonso made an error at the chicane and cut across it – which handed him a brief time advantage.

Although Alonso backed off twice on the following straight to try to give back any time he had gained with the move, the stewards were still not happy with how things were handled and punished him afterwards for gaining what it felt was a ‘lasting advantage’.

The five-second sanction was enough to drop Alonso from ninth to 11th, and out of the points.

Alonso’s Alpine bosses are unhappy with the situation because they were offered no opportunity by the FIA to give more time back, and no chance for their driver to explain his actions, before being sanctioned.

Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer believes the situation was especially unfair because the outfit and driver had no way of knowing exactly how much of an advantage that had to give back.

“We need to speak with the FIA at the next grand prix,” he said. “We need clarity on this. We need a way to say: ‘look, you’ve got to give more time back.’”

F1’s rules are clear that drivers must not gain from any occasion they run off the track.

In pre-season guidelines handed down by F1 race director Niels Wittich, it is said: “Should a car leave the track the driver may re-join, however, this may only be done when it is safe to do so and without gaining any lasting advantage. At the absolute discretion of the Race Director a driver may be given the opportunity to give back the whole of any advantage he gained by leaving the track.

If a driver, for example, short-cuts a chicane or a corner, it is his or her responsibility to clearly give back the advantage he or she gained. This may include giving back the…