Fernando Alonso accused Formula One’s governing body of lacking common sense after being stripped of his 100th career podium at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Alonso, 41, finished third but was demoted to fourth behind George Russell after being handed a retroactive 10-second penalty just minutes after celebrating on the podium in Jeddah.
Alonso’s Aston Martin team was found guilty of illegally touching the Spaniard’s car after serving a five-second penalty for an earlier starting offence.
BREAKING: Fernando Alonso receives a 10-second penalty for a misjudged penalty and loses his podium in Jeddah
He drops to fourth while George Russell moves up to third#Saudi ArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/PWA3dM3wI4
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 19, 2023
But Alonso criticized the FIA for the long time it took to hand down the sentence for a crime that happened on lap 18 of 50.
“Today is not good for the fans,” he said. “If you have almost 35 laps to issue a penalty and you wait until after the podium, something is really wrong in the system.
“I feel sorry for the fans. But I really enjoyed the podium, I threw the trophy, I got the pictures, I celebrated with the champagne and now to have 15 or 12 points doesn’t change much for me but it’s a bit sad for the FIA . Common sense has to come back.”
Alonso led the first handful of laps in Jeddah after beating polesitter Sergio Perez at the first corner.
“I feel great… I enjoyed the podium!”
He couldn’t keep the trophy but Fernando Alonso was still beaming after his fourth place in Jeddah ☺️#Saudi ArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/g7uWlKZX9Q
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 19, 2023
However, before Perez passed Alonso, he received a five-second penalty after starting too far to the left of his starting box.
The Spaniard added: “That was my mistake and I need to pay more attention to that. But they told me you had a five second penalty so I pushed harder and got a seven second lead.
“But in the second stint there was no investigation, no information, nothing. If someone had told me you had a 10 second penalty I would have opened 11 seconds.
“It’s not fair for George. The Mercedes sponsors would have liked to have been on the podium, but it’s good for us. We have our Aramco branding, we have the image.
Full of respect. ?
The moment @GeorgeRussell63 learned that he had inherited P3 in Saudi Arabia. ?pic.twitter.com/wki8C9dfQj
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) March 19, 2023
“If George really had finished third in the race, he should have been happy about the podium and not me, so I feel sorry for George, for the Mercedes sponsors and for George’s fans.”
Russell took advantage of Alonso’s punishment to take third place and earn both his and Mercedes’ first Silver of the new season.
“Fernando’s penalty was tough,” he said. “You deservedly got on the podium today, but I will take an extra trophy with me. I am not complaining.”
