FIA's decision on Alpine protests will determine if F1 is going in 'right direction' or not - Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso reckons the FIA's decision on Alpine's protest against the 30-second post-race penalty imposed on them at the US GP in Austin last weekend will dictate the direction the sport is going.
The Spaniard was penalised after the US GP for running his car in an unsafe condition. Alonso was involved in a mid-race crash with Lance Stroll, following which he dropped down the order before making his way up the field to finish P7.
After the race, following a protest from Haas, Alonso were given a 30-second penalty that dropped him outside the points. Alpine have protested against the penalty, and the hearing will be on Thursday before the Mexican GP weekend.
In an Instagram story, Alonso said that the decision on Thursday about the penalty could determine the direction the sport is taking. He said:
"It's one of those rare times in sport that I feel we are all on the same page and share the same opinion towards rules and regulations. It is an important day for the sport, as this decision will dictate if we are going in the right direction."
Alpine released a statement intimating the team's protest against the penalty. The statement issued on Twitter read:
"BWT Alpine F1 Team is disappointed to receive a post-race time penalty for Car #14 from today’s United States Grand Prix, which unfortunately means Fernando moves to outside the points-paying positions. The team acted fairly and deemed the car remained structurally safe as a result of Fernando's incident with Lance Stroll on lap 22 of the race with the right-side rear view wing mirror detaching from the chassis as a result of accident damage caused by Stroll."
BWT Alpine F1 Team is disappointed to receive a post-race time penalty for Car #14 from today’s United States Grand Prix, which unfortunately means Fernando moves to outside the points-paying positions.
[1/5]
It continued:
"The FIA has the right to black and orange flag a car during the race if they consider it unsafe and, on this occasion, they assessed the car and decided not to action the flag. Moreover, after the race, the FIA technical delegate considered the car legal.
The team also believes due to the protest being lodged 24 minutes past the specified deadline, it should not have been accepted, and therefore the penalty should be considered as invalid. As a result of this point, the team has protested the admissibility of the original Haas F1 Team protest."
Fernando Alonso's reflection on race in Austin
Fernando Alonso was pumped after the race in Austin. There was a moment in the race where it appeared the Alpine driver would be forced to retire.
Alonso took his damaged car to the pits but was able to drive it back to the track and score points. Reflecting on the race, Alonso sounded very happy with his performance, saying:
"It was a fantastic race for everybody today. We were lucky with the first Safety Car, and we were very fast after that on the Medium tyres. At the restart, I tried to overtake Lance (Stroll), he moved towards me, and we touched wheels. I thought that I would retire the car after the incident, and it was pretty scary.
But the car is made of strong stuff, and we were able to carry on after changing the front wing. I'm very proud of our efforts today as a team. It's incredible that we were able to make the tyres last on the final stint and despite losing out to Lando (Norris) on the last few laps, we still come away from this race with some good points."
It will be interesting to see if Alonso's penalty is rescinded by the FIA, but going by their track record, it appears unlikely.