Final confusion
The chaotic final race of the Jeddah GP for the definition of the third position, revolved around the press releases of the FIA, even managed to overshadow the overwhelming power shown on the track by the Red Bulls of Perez and Verstappen. Fernando Alonso’s podium was first celebrated, then canceled ed finally returned to the Asturian driver of the Aston Martin. Everything is linked to the five-second penalty for incorrect positioning on the starting grid, suffered by Alonso at the start. No one has any doubts about this sanction – however severe – it may be.
The Safety Car regime has nothing to do with it
Also the fact that the two-time world champion has discounted the five-second penalty in the pit stop during the Safety Car regime, contrary to what was thought at first, is absolutely compliant with the sporting regulations. In fact, point 54.3 clearly explains that “the driver concerned must serve the penalty the next time he enters the pit lane and, for the avoidance of doubt, this includes any stop that the driver makes while a VSC or Safety Car procedure is in progress“.
Aston Martin has dug up previous cases
The real problem was the fact that work was done – or not – on Alonso’s car while it was serving the five-second stop on the pitch. In fact, from the images it is clearly seen that the car is lifted on the stands by the mechanic who is behind the single-seater. The commissioners at first regarded this as a “work on the car” and they penalized Alonso, claiming that there was a “agreement” between the FIA and the team to consider this operation as any other intervention on the car. However, the top management of the Aston Martin team presented the right to review and they unearthed enough evidence to overturn the verdictstarting from seven recent precedents in which those serving the penalty had carried out similar operations without being penalised.
Clarity for the future
So in fact the race direction found itself forced to disavow itself in the space of about half an hour. To avoid similar cases in the future, an FIA spokesman has already stated that the matter will be discussed next Thursday is that clarity will be provided for the upcoming race in Melbourne. In fact, the rules speak of ‘contradictory precedents’ in the case in question. A not insignificant grain that there is every intention of clarifying in the future. Meanwhile, Alonso can deservedly enjoy the 100th podium of his career.
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