Get on the box, get out of the box, get back on the box... Fernando Alonso went through an emotional roller coaster ride in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. The Spaniard, 3rd on the finish line behind the Pérez-Verstappen tandem, before receiving a ten-second penalty dropping him to fourth place, finally recovered his place on the podium. A decision taken by the FIA more than three hours after the end of the race. The Aston Martin driver thus signs his 100th career podium.
The 41-year-old two-time world champion, who started the race with a bang, passing Pérez at the first corner, was quickly penalised five seconds for poor grid positioning.
He then took advantage of the intervention of the safety car to return to the pits and make this penalty, but a jack had hit his car, causing a new penalty of ten seconds formalized after the protocol ceremony.
Alonso the only non-Red Bull on the podium
Aston Martin appealed this sanction and ultimately won by proving that several teams had not been penalised in similar cases in the past, forcing the FIA to reconsider its decision.
"In the end I'm happy with the result tonight and our second podium. We showed that we could be the second fastest team and we maintained a good pace throughout the race. I made a mistake on the grid but we gave everything to make up for lost time. We didn't really know where we would be before the weekend so it's good news for the next races," said the Bull of Asturias, 3rd in the drivers' standings, and the only non-Red Bull to have been on the podium so far.
- Sport
- Fernando Alonso
- Saudi Arabia
- Formula 1 (F1)
- Aston martin