Fernando Alonso About His “Confusing” Penalty That Is To Be Reviewed By The Stewards

The last two race weeks saw Fernando Alonso get 20-second and 10-second penalties in Australia and China respectively, on top of that collecting a total of six penalty points for his driving super license during those events. In the Australian Grand Prix, it was for a last-lap incident involving George Russell — the stewards decided Alonso unnecessarily slowed down too much ahead of the Mercedes driver, deeming it a “potentially dangerous driving”. Then, during the Chinese Grand Prix’s Sprint, the Spaniard was given another penalty after making contact with Carlos Sainz in the middle of their battle.

The latter is now being reviewed by the stewards in a meeting with Aston Martin in Miami, the team requesting this procedure. They want some clarity in terms of the almost unusual harsh approach of the FIA to Alonso’s recent penalties. While he and the team accepted the Australian one, the penalty in China raised some eyebrows.

“Obviously we have different opinions, but this happens in any sport. Even when you watch football on TV, depending on which team you are, it’s a yellow card or red card or not. I think we will have different opinions as well always,” commented Alonso.

“But I think that in China, I think 99% of the people were enjoying the sprint event and the battles, and I think I had the hardest penalty of the race. So maybe it was a little bit confusing there.”

Alonso spoke about the importance of the team getting some answers and not making something similar happen again.

“The rules are the rules, and we accept those. Sometimes we agree, sometimes we disagree, but we have to accept it because they [the stewards] have all the power to make those decisions, and they have all the understanding of the rules.”

“But, as I said, I had the hardest penalty in the last two events in Australia and in China, so it’s good to make sure that everything is okay and nothing else is happening.”

Let’s see what the verdict of the meeting will be. And hopefully, Fernando Alonso can have a clean weekend in Miami, without any more penalties or points on his super license.