Fernando Alonso has a date with the FIA to explain his stinging criticism of the Miami Grand Prix stewards.
The Spaniard, in what for him was a particularly eventful Miami Grand Prix, received two separate five-second time penalties that dropped him out of the points.
The Alpine driver was firstly penalised for hitting Pierre Gasly when he attempted an ambitious overtaking move.
He was subsequently also punished for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, dropping him to a finishing position of 11th.
Alonso said he and team representatives went to discuss the second penalty with the FIA, in the belief the 40-year-old had done enough to give back the time he had gained, but they were packing up to go home and refused to hear their explanation.
“We arrived after the race with all the proof of giving the time back and they were just packing up, they were not even in the room,” said Alonso at the Spanish Grand Prix press conferences.
“We went there, we showed them all the data, they found themselves with their hands tied because they issued already the penalty and didn’t know how to get back from that document.
“We believe it was very unfair and it was just incompetence from the stewards. They were not very professional.”
Those comments have gone down like a lead balloon with the FIA who, the BBC have reported, called in Alonso to see them.
The FIA tells BBC Sport that the topic of Fernando Alonso’s criticisms earlier today has been referred to the stewards
— Andrew Benson (@andrewbensonf1) May 20, 2022
He was certainly not an outlier within the Alpine team either in his belief that the penalty was unjust because their CEO, Laurent Rossi, hinted as much in the days after the race – albeit not as forcefully.
Alonso is understood to have breached articles 12.2.1 f and 12.2.1 k of the FIA’s International Sporting Code. Article 12.2.1 f says “any words, deeds or writings that have caused moral injury or loss to the FIA, its bodies, its members…
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