Third, fourth and third again. Fernando Alonso’s 100th career podium at the end of a long Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was a rollercoaster of emotions, subject to a real dispute between the Federation, the FIA Remote Operations Center and Aston Martin.
An open confrontation that took almost four hours to find its conclusion, between hypotheses, conflicting opinions and misunderstandings. A chaotic final which then led the stewards to cancel the previously assigned ten-second penalty, giving back to the Spaniard that third place earned on the track with a high-level race.
But how did the events unfold? What was the path that led the Federation to retrace its steps? Here is the complete account of the key moments of the whole story, from the reasons that prompted the FIA to penalize the Asturian after the start up to the reassignment of the hundredth podium in his career.
From the beginning: why the 5 second penalty
As expected, at the end of the formation lap Alonso had lined up on the second box of the starting grid, a position inherited following the penalty inflicted on Charles Leclerc. But, in positioning himself inside the garage, the Spaniard had made a mistake, positioning his left front tire beyond the lines.
In this regard, the regulation was revised just before the start of this season, introducing those few words that stuck the Spaniard. Until the end of the 2022 season, in fact, article 48.1 of the sporting regulations provided that a driver would commit a penalty if the contact patch of the front tires was in front of the grid box before the starting signal”.
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB19, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
With the revision approved on February 22 following the World Motor Sport Council, that specific article was modified, indicating that a driver would be at risk of a penalty if any part of the contact patch of the front tires was beyond the lines (front and side) at the time of the starting signal. The essential element lies precisely in having made specific reference to the side lines, so that no misunderstandings could be created in case of application of the rule.
A penalty that came very quickly, already during the second round, with the review process concluded in a very short time. At the end of the race, Alonso explained the reasons behind his mistake, which was very similar to the one made by Esteban Ocon just two weeks earlier in Bahrain: “Maybe it’s the cars or the halo, whatever it is, that disturbs with the view of how much we position the car. Anyway, it was my mistake.”
Alonso serves his first penalty in the pits
Following the withdrawal of his team mate, Lance Stroll, forced to stop on the side of the track due to a problem with the energy recovery system, the management had decided to neutralize the race, bringing out the Safety Car. Taking advantage of the opportunity, during the eighteenth lap Aston Martin had chosen to call Alonso to the pits, in order to mount a set of hard tires with which to reach the finish line.
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Just at the moment of the stop, the penalty was served, as required by the regulation. In fact, according to article 54.3 of the sporting code, the 5/10 second penalties must be applied on the first occasion a driver enters the pit lane, even in the case of a Virtual Safety Car or Safety Car. “In both cases described above [in riferimento alle sanzioni da 5 o 10 secondi]the driver concerned must take the penalty the next time he enters the pit lane and, for the avoidance of doubt, this includes any stop made while a VSC or Safety Car procedure is in progress.
In these cases, the mechanics can work on the car only after serving the 5-second penalty, which is also timed by the team itself. Not surprisingly, according to official data, the Asturian’s pit stop was completed in 8.56 seconds.
Observing the replays available at the stop, the Remote Operations Center in Geneva, i.e. the remote body that has the task of helping the FIA on the track during the review processes, had signaled that it had not noticed any anomaly, deeming itself satisfied that the penalty had been discounted correctly.
“As usual, race control, assisted by the Remote Operations Center (ROC) in Geneva, examined whether car 14 had served its penalty in accordance with the regulations. The Stewards were informed that both race control and the ROC had determined that the penalty had been properly served. The Stewards of Sport have not examined the matter further,” the statement reads.
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
The FIA sanctions Alonso again
A few passages from the end, however, a communication given by George Russell’s track engineer had rekindled the debate. As speculated by Mercedes, Alonso would have been at risk of penalties again, which is why they had suggested the Briton to push to stay within a gap of 5 seconds from the Spaniard.
Something to which, as a precaution, Aston Martin had reacted promptly, suggesting the same indication to the two-time world champion, that is to increase the gap to bring it above a safety threshold.
The situation, in fact, would have taken an unexpected turn in the last lap, so thirty laps after the fact. The stewards had in fact received a report from race control in which it was argued that the ROC no longer believed that the 5s penalty for the pit stop had been correctly applied, asking the marshals to investigate.
A communication that, in reality, would not have appeared immediately to the public, but rather after the podium award ceremony, 13 minutes after the moment in which Perez had crossed the finish line to win the race. Reviewing the available footage once again, the stewards had therefore come to the conclusion that the penalty had actually not been served correctly due to the rear jackman who would have touched the car.
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23, arrives on the grid
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
According to the stewards in the official press release, in a previous meeting of the SAC (Sporting Advisory Committee) together with the teams it was decided that in these cases touching a car would be equivalent to working on the car, effectively committing a violation of the regulation.
“The Stewards were shown video evidence of how car 14 served its penalty by the Clerk of the Course and the Sporting Director. They stated that it had been agreed in SAC meetings with the teams that no part of the car could be touched during the enforcement of a penalty as this would constitute work on the car.
“In this case, it was clear that the car had been touched by the rear jackman. Based on the statement made to the Stewards that there was an agreed position that touching the car was equivalent to working on it, the Stewards decided to impose a penalty.”
Not having correctly served the penalty, the stewards had opted, as per practice, to further sanction the Spaniard by adding 10 seconds to the overall race time, effectively excluding him from the podium in favor of George Russell, who had been informed while completing the interviews television.
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin F1 Team, 3rd position, with his trophy
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Alonso arrives in the interview area when the stewards have already communicated the penalty, addressing harsh words towards the FIA for the times with which the sanction had been decided, even if at the time he could not have known that the communication from the ROC had only come at the last lap: “Today is not good for the fans when you have 35 laps to apply a penalty and to inform about the penalty, and you wait after the podium. There is something really wrong with the system, but that’s the way it is”, explained the standard bearer of the Silverstone team.
In the night the case reopens
At 12.36 local time, i.e. more than two hours after the end of the race, the Federation had finally issued the document confirming that Alonso had been given a 10-second post-race penalty for the reasons previously explained. In fact, although the second sanction had been correctly communicated to the teams and the public, no official document had been released.
In the meantime, doubts were clearly chasing each other inside the paddock, with the Team Principal and the Sporting Director of Aston Martin having confirmed the second version that the penalty would have been triggered for an error by the jackman, however underlining a certain ambiguity in the regulation .
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin F1 Team, 3rd position, on the podium
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
The latter, in fact, does not explicitly establish that the mechanics cannot touch it during the penalty, but indicates that they cannot work on the car. Article 54.4c) of the F1 Sporting Regulations states that: “While a car is stationary in the pit lane following a penalty in accordance with Articles 54.3a) or 54.3b) above, it may not work until until the single-seater hasn’t been stationary for the entire duration of the penalty”.
The rule that “touching the car meant working on it” had in fact been agreed between the teams and the Federation separately, as the stewards had actually suggested in the first press release.
The FIA removes the penalty and Alonso returns to the podium
After having received a request for a “Right of Review” from Aston Martin with evidence to support its position, the FIA had decided to reopen the case, arguing that there were new elements useful for the investigation. In support of the Right of Review, it has been revealed that the minutes of the last CAS meeting have been recalled, as well as video evidence of other incidents that could have turned the tide of penalties.
In the second press release, in which the FIA says it has welcomed the Silverstone team’s remembrance, it states: “The team’s statement was that an alleged agreement between the FIA and the teams to touch the car in any way, even with a easel, would have constituted a “job” on the car was wrong and, therefore, the basis of the commissioner’s decision was wrong”.
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin F1 Team, provisionally in third position, celebrates with the team at the Parc Ferme
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Basically, according to Aston Martin it had never really been agreed between the team and the Federation that “touching the car was equivalent to working on it”.
An element that prompted the stewards to cancel the penalty because, by listening to the evidence available again, it had actually emerged that that rule had never actually been granted, as previously mentioned by the stewards.
“Having ‘no clear argument’ to establish that the parties [team e Federazione] had agreed that a stand touching a car constitutes work on the car, the marshals reversed their decision” reads the press release canceling the ten-second penalty, effectively bringing Alonso back to third place and allowing him to celebrate his his 100th career podium.
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