MADRID, 20 (EUROPA PRESS)
The Asturian, who started from the first row of the grid in Jeddah, second, finished in third position behind the Red Bulls of Mexican Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez and Dutchman Max Verstappen, all despite having to serve a five-second penalty for incorrectly lining up on the starting grid.
However, following the race, the stewards imposed a 10-second penalty on Alonso, understanding that, while serving the previous penalty, the rear jack operated by one of his mechanics had made contact with his ‘AMR23’ before it five seconds elapsed. With this, the British George Russell (Mercedes), fourth in the finish line, rose to third position.
Aston Martin appealed the sanction, arguing that the regulation speaks of “not working” on the car but not of “not touching”, and providing previous cases in which the alleged offenders were not sanctioned. Thus, the penalty was revoked and the Spaniard celebrated his 100th podium in Formula 1.
“There was no clear agreement, as previously suggested to the stewards, finding that the parties had agreed that a jack touching a car is equivalent to working on the car. In the circumstances, we consider our original decision to impose a The penalty for car 14 had to be reversed, and we did so accordingly,” the stewards say in their report.
Following the mess in Jeddah, an FIA spokesperson has said that they expect the issue to be discussed at the next Sporting Advisory Committee meeting on Thursday, before the Australian Grand Prix, in order to “clarify any confusion for future events”. and to “regulate sport in a fair and transparent manner.”
“The request to the stewards for review of the initial decision was made on the last lap of the race. The subsequent decision of the stewards to hear and grant the right of review by the competitor was the result of new evidence regarding the definition of ‘working on the car’, for which there were conflicting precedents,” the spokesperson said.
