Fernando Alonso has questioned why it took so long for the FIA to issue his second penalty during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Aston Martin driver was swiftly penalised for failing to line up in his starting position correctly. He served the penalty when he made his sole pit stop of the race before half-distance during a Safety Car period.
However after the end of the race the FIA announced he had been given a further penalty for failing to serve the original one correctly during that pit stop. That dropped him from third place at the finish to fourth behind George Russell.
“It feels strange that it took one hour, 35 laps to apply the penalty,” Alonso told the official Formula 1 channel after the race. “I was in the podium with all my sponsors, my team and things like that. They decide after, so that’s not a very good job from them, but that is their problem.”
His original penalty was applied for being out of his starting position on the left-hand side. “That was my mistake,” Alonso admitted. “But it was good to lead the race at the beginning for one or two laps, to see the Aston Martin leading the field.
“Then when they told me that I have a five second [penalty], I said, ‘okay, I need to drive a little bit faster and I need to make that time’. So it’s what I tried to do in the first stint, the car was very, very good to drive again. Then the Safety Car came, so we all took the opportunity to stop and then from that point onwards it was just controlling the race.”
Despite his penalty, Alonso took satisfaction from his car’s performance on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
“We lost three points from 15 to 12. But I think it doesn’t change the feeling. The feeling of the car was very good, we were second fastest again controlling the Mercedes and in front of Ferrari. So, I feel super happy.”
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2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix
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